


words of the prophets are written on the subway walls

by pettigrace



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Agender Meliorn, Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Character, Asexual Raphael Santiago, Best Friends, Bisexual Male Character, Canon Jewish Character, Catholic Character of Color, Character of Faith, Coffee Shops, Coming Out, Demiromantic Raphael, Everyone is Supportive, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, LGBTQ Jewish Character(s), M/M, Meet-Ugly, Pansexual Character, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Sexual Identity, Sexuality Crisis, Slow Burn, Trans Character, Trans Jace, switching POVs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-16 12:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8102212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pettigrace/pseuds/pettigrace
Summary: After a fight with his current roommate Raphael Santiago is left with moving in with his old friend Magnus Bane. Naturally, this means lots of headaches for him and weird people stepping into his life.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Simon & Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence".
> 
> This fic was mainly inspired (at least the prologue) by something that happened to me on the train home from university, but it went wild and developed further without me having any chance of having a saying. I hope you enjoy it!

Honestly? Simon can’t even be mad that his car broke down just this morning. Actually, it’s kind of relaxing to just sit in the subway without worrying when the next person is gonna make you slam your brakes so hard that you think your foot is gonna crash through the car’s floor. He enjoys sitting there for the 30 minutes that it takes from Jordan’s place to his and mind his own business, surrounded by complete silence (luckily, this subway isn’t that busy at that time of the day so there’s not many people around).

However, this is not how his evening is going.

Instead, there’s this dude sitting a few rows in front of him. Technically not a bad thing - if he weren’t shouting into his phone. Well, shouting’s not exactly the real word. He’s talking loudly, yes, but his voice is mostly calm - and yet determined.

“Camille, you _will_ listen to me now!”, the guy says, his voice dripping of annoyance. “... No, you’ve been pulling this shit for years by now! Seriously, that’s all you! … You know what? I’m coming home, collect some of my stuff and then I’m leaving.”

Simon can’t see his face, but he hears a bit of everything - even though his voice is mostly monotone. There’s a hint of hurt, of anger, of tiredness.

He sees how the guy hangs up, letting out a sigh, and considers going over - to ask if he’s alright. From the sounds of it, that guy just broke up with his girlfriend _over phone_ , so shit must’ve really been going down.

The guy lets out a loud sigh before throwing his phone against the wall in front of him. Like, actually _throwing_. Nope, Simon’s not going over there after all. He wouldn’t want to be beaten up because he wanted to be helpful.

The phone bounces back from the wall, down onto a seat and from there it jumped to the ground.

“Oh, fuck, please--!”, the guy hisses, jumping to his feet and walking over to where his phone has landed. He kneels down to pick it up and when he sees the screen, he makes a noise that sounds like he’s about to explode.

Simon catches a view of his face when he walks back to his seat - frustration and anger written onto it. He narrows his brows when he sees Simon looking at him, so he averts his eyes quickly.

He hopes he survives the rest of the way back home. It’s only a couple more stations, at least.

 

-

 

Raphael is aware of the fact that living with Camille Belcourt has never been a good idea. Their time together has been coined by a lot of arguments - and yet, since they’re both more of the sulking type, it’s always been pretty quiet.

Camille’s fucked him over quite a lot. From not paying rent, over using his things up to not participating in the assignment that’s due next week, she’s pretty much turned his life into hell.

It’s been the last straw when she didn’t just declare that she’s not going to do anything for the group work, but that she expects _him_ to do everything and earn the profit.

All’s been piling up for a while now, so much that he couldn’t even stop himself from getting into an argument with her while being on public transport.

He’s meant what he’s said. Once he arrived at home, he’s just gonna pack a bag and then leave. Where to, he doesn’t know, but it’s probably better than staying in the same apartment as that _puta_.

Camille doesn’t even talk to him when he enters the flat. Not that he expected her to. Instead, she’s sitting in the living room, her legs crossed as she sits in one of the armchairs. Her lips are pursed as she watches him move through the room, an eyebrow raised - but she doesn’t say anything.

Raphael takes out a bag, stuffing random clothes into it. He feels anger come up his spine - at Camille’s whole attitude, at his family who have pursuaded him to move together with her - at himself for thinking she could get better. He’s so mad he doesn’t even care if he wrinkles his jackets.

“So, where will you be staying?”, Camille asks when he comes out of his room, making him stop dead on his tracks.

Truth be told, he doesn’t know where to go. There’s next to nobody he really knows in this town but there’s no way in _hell_  that he’d tell her that. He can only imagine her cruel smile at that, how she’d act superior and use her _sweet_ voice in order to talk him into staying.

“None of your business.”, he says, still facing the door.

“Oh, come on, Raphi.”, Camille purrs, stepping up to him and letting a hand trace from his shoulder down to his chest. “You know you can’t leave.”

“Oh yeah?”, Raphael asks, shooting a look at her over his shoulder, a smirk on his face. “ _Mírame_.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone in this fic is gonna be painfully oblivious (but also supportive, aw), just so you're warned!

“Hey, Jace just texted.”, Clary announces, tapping on her phone.

She’s laying on her bed, all kinds of different books spread out around her from studying just till this very moment. Simon’s sitting on the floor, having his books put down there. Mid-finals are close so they had met up to study - Simon thinks studying in the library would have been better.

“Of course he has.”, Simon says, rolling his eyes. He wouldn’t be able to tell you if he’s serious or teasing her. “What does he want?”

“A break.”, Clary answers. “We could use one, too, don’t you think?”

“Clary, we started this session only, like, an hour ago.”, Simon reminds her.

“Yeah, no, I know. I meant  _ tonight _ .”, Clary shows him her phone. “Magnus invited Alec to a party, so Jace is going, too, and he asked if we wanted to tag along.”

Simon corrects her, “He probably asked  _ you _ if you wanted to tag along.”

Clary gives him her Are-You-Fucking-Kidding-Me look which he loves her for. It basically means ‘where I go, you go’ - pretty much in the whole Samwise Gamgee speech motivation. “Do you want to?”

“Who  _ is _ Magnus?”

“The guy with the coffee from the other day? Apparently he and Alec have been  _ texting _ .”, Clary tells him with a smirk. 

It’s been obvious that Alec had been  _ smitten _ by the guy who came into Java Jones to order ten coffees to go. They didn’t know what he needed all those for, but Alec had volunteered to help him carry them. When he came back he just elaborated that apparently, the guy owns a club.

Simon shrugs. A break would be nice, even if that means he’ll have to start studying early in the morning tomorrow. “Yeah, sure.”

“Great!”, Clary cheers, starting to type out an answer to Jace.

Simon’s not met that guy very often but he knows that he can’t really stand him. It’s obvious that he has a thing for Clary, so he can just guess that Jace may be jealous of him. Because he’s her best friend and all. It feels good to know a good-looking guy with lots of girls running after him is jealous of  _ Simon Lewis _ . 

He doesn’t particularly look forward to seeing him, but from what he gathered about Magnus, there’s going to be some more people at his, so he wouldn’t have to be spending his time with Jace necessarily. 

“Let’s get something more done first, though.”, Simon offers. “I bet you still can’t name all impressionists.”

Clary shoots him a murderous glance, seeing as that’s her soft spot in all of art history. She could tell you all Renaissance painters forwards and backwards but something more recent? Tough luck.

 

-

 

Raphael downs his cup of coffee in one sip, listening to Magnus’ plans for the evening. He’s woken up at dawn, the local church’s bells being his natural alarm, starting his day with reciting the  _ Angelus Domini _ before wondering if he should ask his teacher if he could prepare his assignement on his own. He should’ve thought about that from the start - after all, he pretty much had known what Camille is like.

Magnus had gotten up at around 1pm. Raphael doesn’t know when he went to bed, but as a matter of fact, he’d still been awake when Raphael went to sleep at almost midnight. He’s yet to discover if that’s the norm.

After he’d left home, he’d been wandering around the town, panicking for a whilem before deciding to ring up Magnus. Actually, that hadn't even been his own idea, but rather Ragnor's, whom he'd called first. He and Magnus hadn’t seen each other in a while and he hadn’t even known if the older man was in town, but he did know for a fact that Magnus has a loft here. So even if he hadn’t been here, he would probably have been able to spend his nights here.

Of course, he is not going to live here forever. His and Magnus’ lifestyles are so different, it would clash sooner or later, no matter if they get along in general or not. Magnus may be his oldest real friend, but that doesn’t mean you can stand being around each other all the time.

“Oh, you will see, this will be wonderful!”, Magnus cheers, clasping his hands together. “And, of course, Alexander will be impressed by my people skills. I’ve been told he tends to be fond of people who know how to deal with others.”

“So, you throw this random party to show him? That’s not exaggerating at all.”, Raphael tells him.

“I never do anything small,” Magnus reminds him, wiggling his eyebrows at the innuendo. Raphael raises an eyebrow. He’d forgotten how much of a child his friend can be.

“Is this orgy gonna happen in your club?”, he asks.

“Huh?”, Magnus frowns as if he hadn’t even thought about it. “Nah, I guess not. It’s not supposed to be  _ that _ big. You know, I invited a couple people, Alec is probably gonna bring his siblings - why don’t you invite anyone?”

Raphael sighs. “Well, if that’s going to happen here, can I just go and sleep in the club?”

Magnus shakes his head. “Can’t. You’re not 21 yet, so leaving you unsupervised with lots of alcohol is not gonna be good for my resumé.”

As a response, Raphael huffs. Of course, he understands there are rules that Magnus needs to follow if he wants to keep his life like it is (Raphael is even pretty sure there won’t be any alcohol tonight, considering the age of the people present) but it’s not like he’d go and drown himself in alcohol. He just doesn’t want to be in the middle of that loud mess. 

“Also, there’s no hiding in your room for you.”, Magnus tells him like he’s read his mind. “You’ve been sulking for a week by now, it’s time you get some life inside of you again.”

Raphael swallows down a comment on how he’s never been especially social. If he would tell Magnus that, he’d probably make him go to a party every week or so. That’s nothing that Raphael is particularly looking forward to.

“I’ll go to bed at 11.”, he tells him, only half-way agreeing with the conditions.

“Oh, come on, don’t be such a spoilsport!”

“I have to wake up again at 6.”, Raphael reminds him.

“I guess God won’t mind you missing prayer once.”, Magnus says. Raphael can’t tell if he’s serious - a part of him is sure that he is - but before he can be really shocked by that, Magnus raises his hands in defense. “Sorry, that was inappropriate, I guess.”

 

-

 

“What’s he doing here?”, Alec asks, looking Simon up and down. His lips are pressed into a thin line, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Simon’s pretty sure he’s never seen him look differently.

“I brought him along!”, Clary says, giving him a cheerful smile.

Alec just stares at her for a moment before turning his eyes to Jace. There’s something like an accusation written in them. 

Simon knows that Jace dislikes him. Alec, however, is just  _ indifferent _ to him. He pretty much is to everything, from what Simon knows. Except his family. And Magnus.

He’s seen Alec and Magnus interact once and it’s been quite an experience to see Alec stumble over his words, to lose his cool at Magnus’ comments. He’s looking forward to seeing more of that tonight.

“Where’s Izzy?”, Clary wants to know, directing her question at Alec as if making a peace offering.

“Still getting dressed. She’s been in her room for two hours by now, so I guess she should be ready soon.”, Alec replies.

It’s awkward, standing there in the hallway and waiting for the last member of their crew to get ready. The Lightwoods have a pretty huge house - Simon’s sure it must actually be viewed as a villa - with several rooms for each of them. The parents could be in the house and he wouldn’t know, simply because they’d be yards and yards away.

Jace comes into the hall after a few moments, smiling brightly at Clary and pulling her into a kiss before nodding at Simon. That goes better than expected.

“Have you ever been at Magnus’ before?”, Jace asks then and when Simon looks at him, he sees a teasing smile directed at Alec on his lips.

Simon breaks into a smile at that, too, fully aware of what Magnus does to him. Alec may not be out (yet)  but it's painfully obvious that he's not straight. Simon hasn't known him for long, so he doesn't know if Magnus is just doubling the experience, but it's entertaining nonetheless. He just hopes that Alec manages to be true to himself soon enough. 

“I--? No? Obviously not-- I've met him twice and you were there _both_  times!”, Alec protests. 

Clary snickers at that and tries to hide it in a cough. “I, uh, I'm gonna check if Izzy needs any help.”

“No,” Alec decides, stepping towards the big staircase. He shoots an angry look at Jace and adds, “I'm gonna check.”

When he's disappeared, all three of them start laughing. 

“You could almost feel sorry for him,” Clary says softly, looking after him with concern in her eyes. It's typical for her - Alec isn't too fond of Clary and shows it openly, and she goes and worries about him. 

“I get it, though,” Simon says, “it must be difficult to figure out something like that.”

He notices Jace looking at him with a raised eyebrow - he's one of those people who can perfectly pull that off without hurting a muscle. Then he sighs and says, “I don't know, man, I just hope he knows that as difficult as Maryse and Robert may be, they'll accept him no matter what.”

Clary hums softly in agreement. She's met the Lightwood parents a couple of times already, in contrast to Simon, who doesn't have a clue what they're like in real life. He's seen articles about them in the newspaper, but that's about it. 

“Okay, you guys! Who's ready for a party?”, Isabelle’s voice rings through the hall. 

They all look up and see her standing on top of the staircase, leaning against the banister while Alec stands somewhere behind her. Simon can't help but stare at her in awe. 

She’s dressed in a short black dress that hugs her curves perfectly, sending her legs into over-knee heels and making her look taller. She’ll already have any boy in love with her before they're even close enough to exchange words. 

“Okay, yeah, let's go.”, Alec says with a roll of his eyes and motions down the stairs. 

Izzy stays up for a moment longer and sends a knowing smile at all of them at the bottom of the stairs, gaining small chuckles in response. 

“Just to make one thing clear, though: We're not gonna stay for too long.”, Jace announces as they turn towards the door, “Papa Jace is wearing his binder and wants to get out of it rather sooner than later.”


	3. Chapter 2

Why exactly Magnus is such a big fan of parties is beyond Raphael. Had he known that aspect of the older’s personality when they first met many years ago, their friendship wouldn’t have gone far.

Not even a handful of guests have arrived and yet it’s louder than during a football game. The most obvious reason is not even that the people are talking but that Magnus decided to play obnoxiously loud music from  _ all _ of his speakers. And not just that it’s borderline deafening, no, Magnus’ taste in music must have suffered in recent years, since he’s playing  _ techno _ music.

While Raphael’s settled onto the couch, a cup of red soda in his hand, Magnus is rushing from one person to the next to ask if they need anything. It’s apparent that he’s nervous about that Alec guy arriving any time soon, because if that’s what he acts like in his club, it’s a wonder that he has any business left.

When the bell rings, Magnus doesn’t even act like he’s got his cool, He basically flies over to open the gate. Raphael watches as he tenses up at the sight of who has arrived. He’s certain that Magnus is suppressing a squeal.

The first person to enter is a woman, which surprises Raphael a little. When Magnus has said Alec would bring some friends, he hadn’t expected a girl for some reason. Her dark hair is bouncing up and down as she makes her way inside. She doesn’t say anything to Magnus but merely winks at him.

She’s followed by a blond guy who doesn’t even look very happy to be there. He’s holding hands with a small red-haired girl who grins brightly at Magnus as she steps in.

Hooked under her arm is another boy, shooting an awkward smile at Magnus while he corrects his glasses. 

Magnus sighs and waves them inside.

With two boys having entered, either of them could be Alec - but when Raphael sees Magnus’ reaction to the next person coming in, he’s sure that that must be the infamous and most beloved Alexander.

It’s embarrassing to watch how Magnus practically throws himself against the doorframe to look relaxed. Raphael can’t see his face but he’s sure he’s wearing his small, one-sided smile that makes him get whatever he wants.

The boy entering is a giant - Magnus’ door, being from a former firehouse, is big enough to make anyone pass comfortably, but Alec is dangerously close to hitting his head. Raphael can spot some insecurity in his face even though he tries his best to hide it. His lips are pressed together but his eyes are rushing around as he nods at Magnus.

He does look good, Raphael has to admit,  but he doesn't quite understand the hype Magnus makes about him. Then again, he never quite gets how the other goes from Oh-they-look-nice to Oh-man-I-need-to-marry-them in mere days. 

Magnus motions around, probably telling his new guests where to find something to drink and snacks as he closes the door. 

Once they went over there, he rushes towards Raphael, only stopping when his face is hovering a few centimetres away from the younger one’s.

“How do I look?”, Magnus asks. There’s panic written over his face.

“What?”, Raphael answers, perplexed by the question. “... Fine! What’s up with you?”

“Are you sure I don’t need more glitter?”

“What you need,” Raphael pushes against Magnus’ chest to bring more space between them, “is to relax.”

“Haha.”, Magnus makes. “Remind me whom I had to blackmail into coming?”

“You’re really freak-ish right now.”, Raphael tells him. “Better put that energy into seducing.”

“Right.”, Magnus nods. 

Raphael leans back against the couch again as he watches Magnus dance over to the drinks - where Alec and his friends are still standing. The dark-haired girl makes big eyes when she sees Magnus come closer and motions for everyone but Alec to leave. Apparently, she knows how to play matchmaker.

 

-

 

Simon knew it would end like this. Izzy would find a guy or girl to dance with, Clary and Jace would disappear to  _ wherever _ and do  _ whatever _ and Alec would make gooey eyes at Magnus. He's embraced Magnus with his full attention. As someone who does both archery and Jiu Jitsu, it's quite a rare sight to see him not be aware of all things around him. 

Simon could probably try to talk to strangers but, knowing him, he'd only embarrass himself. Or others. You never know with his luck. 

So when he spots Magnus’ couch and sees that only one person's sitting on it, arms crossed over his chest and looking like he's about to doze off - a real accomplishment, considering how loud it is -, he suppresses his need to throw his fist into the air.  _ Sitting _ around doing nothing is always better than  _ standing _ around doing nothing. 

He makes his way through the crowd (it really is one now that 20 more people have arrived after them), trying not to knock out anyone and, much to his surprise, arrives at the couch without hurting himself. 

He sinks against the back of the couch, closing his eyes for a moment as he catches his breath. It's not that he didn't like parties. Actually, he enjoys them quite a lot - when he's around people he knows. 

When he opens his eyes again to look around - what else is he supposed to do? -, they meet those of the guy next to him soon enough. They seem to be black, that effect only supported by them being narrowed. 

Simon’s sure that the guy is about to growl at him for daring to sit down on the couch. 

It's not even like he's invading his personal space or something. No, there's actually a lot of space between them, seeing as Simon sits on one edge and Mr Grumpy on the other. No actual reason for him to look like he's gonna eat Simon. 

And just at the thought at that, he recognizes the guy. 

“You're the Subway Guy!”, he exclaims, pointing at him. 

Grumpy raises an eyebrow. “I do not sell sandwiches.”

“No,” Simon rolls his eyes, “I saw you  _ on _ the subway. Last week? You had a fight with someone.”

 

-

 

Raphael stares at the guy next to him (who has actually no business sitting there if you ask him) with a raised eyebrow. He knows that he's one of  _ Alexander’s _ friends, he's seen him enter with them - the guy with the glasses. 

He can't recall to have ever seen him before. 

It could be that he has, however. The evening that he moved out - it wouldn't be that much of a surprise if strangers remember him, seeing as it was the worst (and pretty much the first) outburst he's ever had. That destiny decides that he has to cross paths with someone who's seen him that night - that he's a friend of the guy Magnus has a crush on - seems almost like a joke. However, God will have a reason to do so. 

“So, are you and your girlfriend alright again?”, the guy asks, looking concerned. 

Raphael blinks at him. “I do not have a girlfriend.”

Glasses’ eyes widen up before he nods. “I've only heard parts of your half of the story but from what I gathered, she screwed you up royally. So, good call.”

Now it dawns on Raphael: Glasses must have hears bit of his conversation with Camille and guessed that she was his  _ girlfriend _ . He almost laughs at that suggestion. Not only is Camille way older than him - she's closer to 30 than she'd ever admit - but she's one of the most awful people he's ever met. If she hadn't played nice girl with his parents, making them think that she's an angel, he wouldn't even have dreamt of moving in with her in his wildest nightmare. It's a mystery to him how Magnus could have ever  _ loved _ her. 

“That wasn't my girlfriend but my flatmate, if you must know.”, he tells Glasses. 

“Oh,” he makes in return. “Well, if your  _ flatmate _ gets you that worked up, it's best if you moved out-- Did you move out?”

“Yes.”

“Good! Found a nice flat?”

“Not yet. I'm staying with a friend for now.”, Raphael replies. In fact, he should better get his own place sooner or later before Magnus makes him join more parties. 

Glasses nods approvingly. “That's great. Friends are great.”

“Unless they abandon you at a party?”, Raphael asks, giving him a knowing smirk. 

“Well--”

Glasses is interrupted by a figure sinking down on the couch, putting their feet up in his lap and their head in Raphael’s. Raphael doesn't even need to look down to see it's Magnus. The older man takes one of Raphael’s hands without even looking and places it in his hair, probably meaning for him to pet it. 

“Oh, it's awful--”, Magnus sighs when he's sure he's gained his attention. 

Raphael echoes his sigh. “What happened?”

“Nothing!”, Magnus claims, sounding miserable. 

“Well, that's better than something awful.”, Glasses offers. Raphael looks over to him and sees how he shrugs, an unsure smile on his lips. He looks ridiculous. 

“ _ No _ , Seamus.”, Magnus hisses. “Something  _ awful _ would tell me something at least.  _ Nothing _ happening is like playing hide and seek in the dark.”

“Well, you can't expect him to suddenly ravish you.”, Raphael tells him. “I've only  _ seen _ him for the first time a few hours ago and I can tell you he's so far back in the closet, he's about to be crowned king of Narnia.”

“Is this about Alec?”, Glasses - Seamus - wants to know.

“Of course it's about Alec!”, Magnus says. “He won't leave my mind - I wake up and he's the first thing I think about - I go to bed and he's the last thought that crosses my mind--”

“I wish he was exaggerating.”, Raphael tells Seamus. Apparently, when Magnus has a crush on somebody, he doesn't care who knows. It's annoying. 

“Well, if it helps you: Alec does like you. Otherwise he wouldn't be here. And he likes nobody but his family.”, Seamus smiles at Magnus. 

Magnus gets up from Raphael’s lap, turning so that he sits between them like a normal human being. “Yeah, well, I'm  _ like _ able! Everyone likes me! But I'm not  _ love _ able.”

Raphael snorts at the display in front of him and earns an angry look from his friend. 

 

-

 

Magnus, as it turns out, is pretty similar to a cat when he's angry - even if it's meant only halfway seriously. It's pretty apparent in his conversation with his friend. 

“Oh, come on, Magnus.”, Simon says. “Don't be like that. I'm sure you're very loveable.”

“Aw, Sean! Finally you're confessing your undying love for me!”, Magnus says, clutching his heart. “But I'm sorry, you're cute and all but I'm afraid it is too late for the two of us.”

“I did not--”

“Don't try telling me you're straight.”, Magnus shoots him down. “My Bi-Fi has full reception near you.”

Simon bites down a reply. He has actually no clue about what his sexuality is. Up to now there's never anyone been for him but Clary. Maybe Magnus is right… 

“And my Ace Trace is dead in this room.”, Grumpy says. Simon should ask him for his name. 

Magnus laughs in response and pets their thighs. “Well, I think I better get going now.”

He gets up from the couch with grace, turning towards them with a smile. He looks like he's waiting for his own personal cheerleaders to appear. Simon has the idea that maybe he and Grumpy are supposed to be those. 

“Hey, Magnus? Small tip: Maybe you should tune down a little. Ask him out for dinner or something.”, Simon offers. 

“But don't make it be a date just yet.”, Subway Guy adds. “Remember the all-mighty closet.”

Magnus nods. “You guys should become first friends and then my personal consultants.”, he says before strutting away. 

Simon’s eyes follow him until he's disappeared in the crowd. Then they catch sight of Grumpy. 

He's still looking into the direction that Magnus has disappeared to. A small smile is playing around his lips, amusement over his friend written into his face. If he's looked pissed before, he's now seemingly calmer, almost peaceful. 

Simon takes in the distinguished features of his face - he's quite beautiful, for the lack of a better word. Angelic almost, with all of it fitting together perfectly - even the scar on his left cheek only perfects look. How exactly is beyond Simon. 

“What's your name?”, he splutters out before he can stop himself. 

Subway Guy turns to him, the smile having left his face. He wears a neutral expression now and Simon is thankful he doesn't look he's going to kill him anymore. He sighs before saying, “Raphael.”

Now, Simon is not very up-to-date with the Bible but he remembers things from the classes he took for his Bar Mitzvah. Raphael must indeed have been an angel, as far as he can recall. Not the Raphael in front of him, the biblical-- although this guy here could be one, too, from the looks. 

“You're seriously named after an angel?”, he chuckles. 

 

-

 

Raphael’s parents have raised him in devoted manner. They’ve named him after an angel, fitting to their already catholic annotated last name. Growing up, they didn’t  _ make _ him believe in God but told him enough since they were faithful themselves. Logically, he grew into a man of faith himself. He goes to church every week and to every special mass. He does his daily prayers and never uses the Lord’s name in vain. God is a reassurance about everything going the right way and a promise that bad situations will always get better.

So, naturally, when this stranger laughs at his name, Raphael doesn’t really appreciate it.

Sure, he’s been annoyed by Seamus’ presence before and the fact that he started  _ talking _ to him, but he would have dealt with that without becoming majorly pissed. Now, he’s openly glaring at the guy. 

“Raphael is the angel of healing. I’d reconsider making fun of his name.”, he tells him, using his voice to make it sound like a threat. He wouldn’t exactly punch him in the face  _ just _ for insulting his name, but who knows? Maybe more’s to come.

“I thought he was the one who was like ‘Sup, Mary, you’re preggos.’”, Seamus says carefully. 

He’s just making it worse.

“Oh, no, wait! That was Gabriel!”, Seamus corrects himself and throws his hand against his head. “I forgot half of my Bar Mitzvah classes, sorry.”

“You’re… Jewish.”, Raphael concludes. Truth be told, he doesn’t know much about the other religion other than the fact that Jesus Christ was born as a Jew.

“Named after Simon Maccabeus.”, Seamus says and holds out his hand for him to shake. “Simon Lewis, professional Embarrassist of Himself.”

“Simon?”, Raphael repeats but shakes his hand. “I thought you were called Seamus.”

Simon frowns at him for a second before he realizes what he was referring to. “Oh! No, I’m called Simon. If you ever hear Magnus utter any name starting with an S, he probably means me. He thinks it’s funny when he pretends he doesn’t know my name.”

“Magnus’ humour is a mystery of itself.”, Raphael agrees.

“The whole guy is, isn’t he?”, Simon remarks. “So, you live with him now? Just guessing.”

Raphael doesn't see a point in denying it. He'd probably know it by tomorrow anyways. “Temporarily.”, he says. 

“That's cool!”, Simon cheers. “Magnus is cool. You knew him before?”

“Actually--”, he starts but stops when yet another figure flops down between them. He recognizes her as the black haired girl who entered with Simon’s group.

She curls into Simon’s side immediately, not even caring whether she interrupts a conversation. Simon puts an arm around her deliberately and doesn’t say anything. Instead, he looks over at Raphael, indicating for him to keep talking. Apparently something like this is normal for them.

Raphael wonders if they are a couple.

Truth be told, he finds it pretty disrespectful to direct your full attention neither to the girl in your arms nor your conversation partner, and he doesn't want to encourage such behaviour. So he gets up from where he sits and says, “I'm gonna get something to drink.”


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll have noticed that I've updated the total chapter count for this story.  
> That happened because.......... **I finished it**!  
>  I'd thought it'd take longer because I have a paper to write, but I ran out of books for uni so here I was with time on my hands.  
> I'm now contemplating whether to just upload them all? Thoughts?
> 
> Also thanks for the lovely comments!

“Hey, remember that guy I’d seen on the subway who’d totally trashed his phone in a fight with his girlfriend?”, Simon asks.

“Barely.”, Clary says in a dry tone and shrugs. 

“Well, I’ve met him yesterday and I’ve learnt a lot of interesting facts.”, he tells her. They hadn’t had the time to talk about it yesterday because they’d gotten out of Magnus’ apartment way later than they’d wanted and Jocelyn had confiscated Clary’s phone when Jace had brought her home so they couldn’t discuss last night before Simon came here. “ _ Numero uno _ , the phone is not broken, the screen just cracked.  _ Numero dos _ , wasn’t his girlfriend but his flatmate. And  _ tres _ , his  _ former _ flatmate. He now lives with Magnus.”

“Wait, what?”, Clary asks, turning off the tap she’d been cleaning her paint brushes under. “Has he been the guy you’ve been sitting on the couch with? Which, may I add, was totally  _ lame _ ?”

“Hey, not my fault y’all decided to just pair off!”, Simon complains. “Anyways,  _ yes _ , that was him and I mean, how small is the world? He’s like a human grumpy cat.”

Clary considers it for a moment. “Well, I almost said ‘I can’t imagine Magnus to live with such a guy’ but then again, he’s got the hots for Alec.”

“Maybe he needs someone to calm him down, all yin and yang, you know?”, Simon shrugs. “Well, that’s been my highlight of last night. What about you?”

“Um,” Clary makes and blushes. Simon doesn’t even want to  _ think _ about what she and Jace have done in whatever corner of Magnus’ flat they’ve been hiding in. “Well, Jace and I are gonna give us another shot.”

“That’s … good, right?”, Simon asks. He’s never quite sure if he’s supposed to be rooting for the relationship or against it. Not because of his own feelings (which have been gone by now, thank you) but because of Clary’s set of mind at that certain point. One day she’s head over heels for Jace, the other she doesn’t want to see him ever again. Their relationship is quite a mess, but Simon silently is convinced that they’d make a lovely couple.

Clary nods. “Yes, definitely. We love each other.”

“Good.”, Simon nods. 

“Then we’ll only have to find a nice girl for you.”

He chuckles awkwardly and scratches his neck, remembering what Magnus had told him yesterday about his so-called  _ Bi-Fi _ . Truth be told, Simon’s been thinking about that for half the night, wondering if he’s attracted to dudes. A very precise revision of his feelings about all the guys that he could think of came to the conclusion that… he doesn’t know. 

(He supposed Alec could look nice if he were to smile. He wouldn’t know. Jace’s eyes are beautiful, but that’s not an opinion but a fact. He guesses Magnus is pretty? But it could be all the glitter. Jordan has that bad boy vibe going for him, so naturally you’d classify him as hot. None of that was really helpful.)

(Raphael is probably the only one he really had a clear opinion about and it’s stayed the same as when he’d first really looked at him: The guy is breathtaking. Does that make him bi? If yes, you can’t blame him.)

“I, uh, I think I’ll stay with my comics for the time being.”, he says quickly, because right now he doesn’t feel certain enough to share anything with Clary.

 

-

 

Raphael sighs when he gets back from his stroll to the next bakery and sees that Magnus is still lying around unconsciously, half his body on the floor and the other on the couch. As far as he could tell, Magnus hadn’t even drunk anything alcoholic (apparently there’s really been nothing in the apartment last night) so it’s a surprise that he could even sleep like this.

He walks over to his friend and nudges his foot against the other’s shoulder to wake him up. He actually has to do it a few times before Magnus wakes up.

To his surprise, Magnus smiles at him immediately, “ _ Bonjour _ . Do you have a cinnamon roll in there?”

“Before you get anything, you need to clean up this mess.”, Raphael says and sniffs at the sight of empty cups and bottles lying around everywhere. At least the guests had managed to put all the empty pizza boxes in the same corner.

“And here I thought I was the owner of this loft and you the guest.”, Magnus says, rubbing over his face as he turns to sit on the floor, leaning against the couch. “But yes, will do. But  _ first _ … food?”

“I will not help you.”, Raphael states and hands him the bag. “I put my stuff away immediately.”

“Can’t blame the party crew for not knowing where the trash can is.”, Magnus mutters. He pulls the roll out of the bag and grins at Raphael. “How about you sit down with me and we can talk about our plans for today?”

Raphael stares at him.

“Come on, we do that every day!”

“No, we don’t. Usually you’re still asleep when I leave the house.”, Raphael reminds him. It’s not even Magnus’ fault, after all he works at night, so naturally he’d sleep in.

“Then we should do it today.”, Magnus pets the empty floor next to him. “How’d you like the party?”

Raphael sits down eventually, simply because he doesn’t want to have Magnus nagging him for the rest of the day. If he didn’t do with questionnaire with him  _ now _ , he’d just keep asking him until he answers. “Not my cup of tea,” he states and puts out his muffin. “The music was bad.”

“Really?”, Magnus’ mouth falls open. “Hm, music is one thing he can never agree on. But you had a nice talk with Sabellius, didn’t you?”

“He informed me his name was Simon. And yes, we talked.”

“That’s good. This party was for socialisational purposes.”

“I have no idea if that’s a word.”, Raphael murmurs. Then he sighs again, noticing what Magnus is actually getting at, and asks, “How did things go with Alexander?”

“Wonderful!”, Magnus exclaims and clasps his hands. “We  _ talked _ and I actually got him to agree to go out with me.”

“Did you now?”

“Yes! We’re gonna go have dinner and watch a movie, maybe the other way around. It sounds very cliche, but if he is that kind of guy…”, Magnus continues, smiling softly. It’s pretty disgusting to see his eyes become glassy as he thinks about Alec. “It’s on Friday, just so you know.”

“Uh, why should I want to know?”

“Well, first of all, you will help me choose an outfit. And later, well, I don’t know how fast Alec is going to forget he’s in the closet, so things could get a little… intense. Maybe.”, he raises his hands. “I’m just saying, don’t complain if you hear anything unsettling.”

Raphael grimaces at that. He knew that living with Magnus wouldn’t be the best experience for him, but he had no clue he’d have to deal with a love-sick guy in his “late mid-twenties” and whatever might evolve out of that. He’ll have to sleep at the bar on Friday, when Magnus’ co-worker has closed the loca, after all.

“What did you think of Sahin?”, Magnus switches the topic. “He’s kinda cute, in a nerdy way, don’t you think?”

“Are you trying to talk  _ boys _ with me?”, Raphael asks, laughing out. “You do remember that I’m not just asexual, yes?”

“Well, you can still have an opinion on people’s personality.”

“We haven’t talked enough for me to have an opinion.”

“Do you want to? Get an opinion, I mean.”, Magnus asks in between two bites of his food.

“No.”, Raphael says firmly. He may have talked to this Simon figure, but merely from a necessity, for the lack of isolation. He’s been thrown off by his words and irritated and, similar to his situation right now, felt like he was on a talkshow. Or at a therapist’s.

 

-

 

Simon is well aware that Jace is the only reason their group even hangs out together, considering that Alec can’t stand either him nor Clary and Izzy could get along with  _ anyone _ , and yet he considers all of them his friends. In a twisted way.

It’s funny, though, because actually it had been Isabelle who’d first seeked a conversation with Clary. About a year ago, a painting of Clary’s had been put on display as the new artistic centre had been opened and Izzy came up to her to chat about the deeper meaning hidden in it. Simon still doesn’t know if she actually liked the painting, but it’s been obvious she’d just wanted to hit on his best friend.

Clary had been oblivious to it, like she always is, but things came together and now they’re a group - Simon, Clary, Isabelle, Jace and Alec.

The others even get along with Jocelyn and Luke (naturally not as well as Simon - he’s known them for pretty much all of his life and has a special place in their hearts, of course) so they can just show up at Clary’s place as well, if they want to. 

So it’s no surprise that later that day Isabelle rings their bell. 

What’s surprising is the mixture of seriousness and amusement that her face portrays.

“I came here to deliver wonderful news,” she announces as she makes her way inside, walking past Luke. 

“I’m just guessing you came here to gossip about one of your brothers,” Luke chuckles, “And that it’s nothing for a parent’s ear, so y’all better get into Clary’s room.”

They follow his instructions without much complaining because he’s probably right. Whenever Izzy feels like sharing something with them, it’s either something you shouldn’t share with your parents for legal reasons or embarrassment.

So when they’re seated in Clary’s room - Izzy spread out on her bed, Simon occupying the armchair while Clary sits on the floor - they’re looking at her eagerly, waiting for whatever gossip she’s about to spread.

Isabelle enjoys the attention greatly, waiting a few moments before she gestures and says, “ _ Alec _ has a  _ date _ .”

“What?”, Clary exclaims at the same moment that Simon splurts, “With Magnus?”

“ _ Obviously _ with Magnus.”, Izzy gives him The Look, “Alec claims it isn’t a date but really? They’re going out for dinner and a movie, so that’s pretty much  _ the _ date.”

“Yeah, I told Magnus to go for something smaller maybe,” Simon admits. “He seems to  _ really _ want to get to know your brother.”

“ _ You _ told him?”, Clary wants to know, actual surprise written on her face. Simon’s a bit offended by that because she should know that while Alec and he may not be nice to each other, he wouldn’t wish him to spend his whole life in unhappiness. 

Izzy just beams at him and continues to recite exactly how Alec had told her about it (a great length of her speech is focussed on the different shades of red that his skin had become), voicing her excitement about him finally being true to himself and that she hopes he and Magnus will start dating for real because “how cool would it be to have a club owner in your family?”

Simon just smiles to himself as she talks, thinking about how truly anxious and eager Magnus had been about getting Alec to like him. According to Raphael, he’d never shut up, so he really must be fascinated by Alec already. And they don’t even really know each other yet.

Poor Raphael, he’ll probably have to endure so much more.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I decided to just roll with it and post the entire thing.  
> Hope you enjoy!

On Friday night, Raphael has decided against staying up until the club’s closed to go to sleep there. For one, he’d have never managed to stay up until 4 in the morning (plus, the fact that he’d have to get up early), and before he would’ve managed to seek shelter, Magnus would probably have come home already.

So he went to bed at his usual time and hoped he wouldn’t wake up by the most awful sounds he could imagine.

And somehow, it works. He sleeps through, only waking up at 6, like usually. The flat is quiet as he prays and a minor part of him dares to think that maybe, Magnus isn’t even home yet.

When he leaves his room to get to the bathroom, however, a new pair of sweatpants over his shoulder, he stops dead on his tracks when he sees someone on the couch in the living room.

It’s a single person, which makes the sheer panic that just spread out in his body disappear again and he motions forward to take a closer look. He recognizes the lank figure as Alec, wrapped in a red blanket.

So he did stay here. Even if not in the way Magnus would’ve liked.

Raphael shrugs it off and takes his shower at last, figuring that he doesn’t want to  _ think _ about it. When he comes out, Alec is still curled up on the sofa but shortly after Raphael has started brewing coffee, he sits up.

“Morning,” Raphael mutters and can’t help but smirk when he sees the pure embarrassment on the other guy’s face. “Want some coffee?”

“I didn’t know Magnus’ had a…  flatmate…?”, Alec mumbles and moves a hand over his face. Raphael doesn’t miss how he looks at his bare chest before getting up and slouching over to him.

Instead of commenting, though, because while Raphael may be a kind of asshole, he’s definitely not one to someone who’s just figuring himself out, he reaches for a cup and fills it with coffee. Alec smiles thankfully as he hands it over. “I’m Raphael.”

“Alec.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

This time, Alec doesn’t just look flustered but confused as well, so Raphael just sighs and takes a sip of his coffee.

“So… You live with Magnus?”, Alec wants to know.

Raphael shrugs. “Temporarily. Don’t worry, before you know it, I’ll be out of your picture.”

Alec seems surprised by that, but he overplays it by looking at the clock. “Wow, that’s  _ early _ . Why are you up this early?”

Initially, Raphael is slightly surprised by the fact that Alec apparently does talk a lot after all, but he decides it’s probably to hide the awkwardness he must be feeling about the situation. Raphael’s never had to greet one of Magnus’ lovers in the morning, but he’s certain that it would be worse if he’d come out of Magnus’  _ room _ , so there’s barely no need for that behaviour. But,  _ in dubio pro reo _ , he decides to play along. “I wake up at 6 every morning. To pray.”

For a moment, Alec raises an eyebrow. Raphael is fully prepared for a negative comment but instead, he goes, “Oh! The  _ Angelus _ ?” Raphael’s surprise must’ve shown because he adds, “My parents are pastors, so I know a little. We’re protestants, though.”

Okay,  _ maybe _ Raphael can approve of Magnus’ latest crush after all. “Really? So you’re a man of faith?”

“Uh, I guess?”, Alec smiles shortly. “I mean, I do believe in God, so yeah.”

“Then you are.”, Raphael nods.

He’s glad when Alec nods and smiles softly at that. You hear often enough about pastor’s children who try to be rebellious or have their beliefs forced upon them, but seeing Alec being happy about being considered of faith is a proof for the opposite side, as well. 

They drink their coffees and Raphael asks about the people who were at Magnus’ party with Alec, simply because it would be rude to just ignore one another, and learns that those were his siblings, his brother’s girlfriend and said girlfriend’s best friend. Raphael figures easily that the dark-haired girl must be his sister, simply because they look so alike, and wonders if maybe she and Simon aren’t together after all.

“Simon?”, Alec repeats, spitting the name out like an insult. “ _ No _ , if he were my brother I’d-- No. Jace is my brother.”

“Oh,” Raphael makes just when Magnus comes down the staircase.

“With you guys talking  _ nobody _ could sleep in late.”

“It’s half past eight.”

“Exactly! It’s half past  _ eight _ .”, Magnus groans and fills another cup with coffee. “Do you know how late we came home? Speaking of, Alec, dear, how’ve you slept? I hope the couch was okay. I’d have had a guest room but  _ someone _ ’s been sleeping in it.”

“It’s, uh, it’s been fine.”, Alec says quickly, looking down at the hand that Magnus’ placed on his as he sat down next to him. “Thanks for asking.”

Raphael hides his mouth behind his cup before either of them can notice him crack a smile.

 

-

 

“Yo, Alec, how’s your date been?”, Jace asks. Either he’s forgotten they’re in a teamspeak channel or he doesn’t care.

They’re playing Call of Duty (technically, Simon and Jace would be playing but at this moment Clary has taken the controller to herself) (probably because Jace had done nothing but complaining about whatever Simon has done - even if he killed the enemy), with Izzy and Clary on their respective sides and talking about whatever comes up to their mind. Apparently, Alec must’ve entered the room just now and as it seems, the siblings had forgotten to mention that  _ he hasn’t come home last night _ .

“It wasn’t a--”, Alec starts, “You know, it was fine.”

There’s a musty sound from which Simon guesses he must’ve sat down on the beanbag in Jace’s room.

“Did you get some?”

“Isabelle!”, all of them shout at the same time. Clary chuckles while doing so, Simon and Alec actually sound scolding while Jace sounds like he’s cheering her on.

“Wait, we’re  _ online _ ?”, Alec asks, his voice sounding terrifyingly high.

“Hey, I mean, they’d have gotten to know anyways, right?”, Jace tries to save himself. “If not from  _ us _ , then once your wedding bells go off.”

“Ha- _ ha _ .”

“No, but seriously, big bro. You just came home. You  _ slept _ at Magnus’? Give us the juices!”, Izzy complains.

“You  _ stayed _ there?”, Clary wants to know.

“On the couch! Okay? I stayed at his loft, but I slept on the couch.”, Alec gives in. “Apparently the guest room, which he  _ of course _ has, is in usage.”

“Oh, right.”, Simon says. “Raphael. You met him?”

“The coffee he makes is good.”, Alec says, sounding like he’s shrugging.

“Huh, and I thought you'd be the one to brew the coffee.”, Isabelle voices.

“No, he told me he’s always the first one to wake up. That's really freaky - and apparently, he wakes up at 6 to  _ pray _ .”

“Woah, that's sick!”,  Jace remarks, a trace of surprise in his voice. 

“Why’d you say that's freaky, though?”, Clary takes a sip of her milkshake that’s standing next to the keyboard. The game has been paused by now, seeing as there are more important topics at hand. “Your parents are literally pastors.”

“But they don't wake up at the ass of dawn to pray.”, Isabelle says, “And they stopped making us go to church when we were teens.”

“I don't know, man, I think that's quite impressive? That kinda dedication is nothing you see every day.”, Simon voices. He remembers how serious Raphael had taken the Christian meaning of his name. And Simon, true to himself, had probably only made it worse with talking but not knowing anything. That's his kind of thing. 

“It's insane, that's what it is.”, Jace decides. “I can't imagine that Magnus would live with a religious extremist.”

“Just because he's got faith doesn't mean he agrees with the church’s popular beliefs. Alec, did you see him run after you with lit torches?”, Simon asks.

The other huffs, “I didn't even say it's bad that he prays. In fact, I'm impressed, too.”

“Why are we talking about Raphael now?”, Izzy asks, “My brother had his first real date! With Magnus Bane!”

“Hey, Iz, why aren’t you a bit louder?”

 

-

 

“And you actually want to  _ date _ this guy?”, Raphael asks.

Alec had gone after two more cups of coffee, claiming that he had promised his little brother to help him with his homework. Raphael thinks he’s probably just been eager to leave for the embarrassment’s sake, but he’ll let him have it. 

Magnus is sitting on the couch now, the blanket Alec had been using weirdly close to his  _ nose _ , while Raphael’s still at the counter in the kitchen, his laptop put up in front of him. 

He’s having a writer’s block right now, so he’s taking drastic manners in chatting up Magnus’ lovesickness.

“Have you ever seen me running after a person for this long just for sex?”

Raphael shivers, “Actually, a guy shouldn't know this much about his Au Pair's ex-boyfriend’s sex life. I hope you never told my brothers as much.”

“Raphael Santiago!  _ Excuse me _ ? Your brothers are tiny delicate creatures whom I’d never expose to something like this.”

“Ricardo is 17 by now.”

“And when I last saw him, he was 15.  _ Fifteen _ , Raph.”, Magnus gestures wildly. “An embryo!”

“That’s  _ never _ stopped you from telling  _ me _ .”, Raphael recalls.

“You were pretty mature for your age. You’re practically a grandpa.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“No, seriously. You need to live a little.”

“Are you and Alec dating now or what?”

“Hm.”, Magnus makes. He sounds like he seriously hasn’t thought about it. “I don’t know? He said we should repeat something like this, so I guess we could be? But it’s not official? The last time I actually dated someone for real, you started a relationship by sending forward little snippets asking ‘Do you wanna be my girlfriend? Tick the box!’”

“You asked Camille out via  _ notes _ ? Was it during class?”

“Maybe.”, Magnus pouts into his direction. “Anyway, I suppose we’ll just see how it develops.”

Raphael grimaces. “Non-aro people are fucking weird.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raphael summarizes all my feelings about people who feel romantic attraction in this chap.  
> Naturally, he's bound to discover that he's one, too.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one time jump between the last chapter and this one, and then again after the first part. The other three are taking place on the same day, roughly a week later.

“Oh, I'm screwed.”, Raphael groans, putting his head onto the table. 

“Last time I checked, you actually had to have sex to be screwed.”, Magnus voices from the couch. 

“That, or having your mama request a Skype call.”

“That's… disturbing.”

Raphael groans again. This is really not a time for Magnus’ bad innuendos. This is the time where he'll have to bust his mum’s bubble concerning Camille. He's actually tried that before, first when she'd cheated on Magnus and then repeatedly when they'd lived together. It's amazing  how many apologies his own mum comes up with for a child that's thankfully not hers. 

He hasn't told her about the fact that he's moved out regardless of them texting every time. It simply hasn't come up. But if he were to Skype with her, she'd know he's not in his flat. And he can't just lie. Especially not to his mother. 

“Then just tell her.”, Magnus says after listening to his thoughts. “Maybe she’ll understand.”

“She’d make me  _ move back _ .”

“Are you even sure that Camille didn’t just call her before?”, Magnus wonders. “It’s quite a Camille-thing to do.”

Raphael raises an eyebrow. “You think  _ mamá  _ would want to test me?”

“Who knows? Mothers are strange creatures. Yours is on mediocre level when it comes to sick mother logic, though.”, Magnus adds when he sees how Raphael narrows his eyes. “Anyway, the thing is: You can’t hide from Guadalupe Santiago. That’s probably the only important thing I learnt in my life.”

“You literally hid behind a tractor to have a smoke. That’s the worst hiding place you could’ve come up with.”, Raphael tells him, knowing what he’s referring to. “But actually, you’re right. She’ll find out eventually anyway.”

He can’t deny her skype calls forever and seeing how he’ll be home for Cinco de Mayo, it’s not like he can continue lying to her. Which he technically hasn’t so far. He just hasn’t mentioned it. But at one point he won’t be able to avoid the topic any more and she’d get to know then.

“Man, I hope she won’t be too devastated to learn you’d rather live with an actual spawn from hell rather than her personal princess.”

“My mum doesn’t consider you a demon, Magnus.”

“Not out loud.”

 

-

 

Simon doesn’t know if it counts as a rebellious or rather a pathetic act to keep hanging out with a group of people who mostly can’t stand you. In either case, it’s a fact that he does it.

It’s kind of a tradition for him to come to Java Jones on Tuesdays, when Jace is on shift, and meet up with Clary, Alec and Isabelle. Occasionally, Jordan would tag along, but only ever when he’s bored. That rarely ever happens because Jordan has a lot of things going on his life with yoga class, leading the boy scouts, learning a new language and doing boxing.

Today, he comes in alone and is greeted by Izzy who shoves her phone into his face.

“Look at this gorgeous piece of human!”, she announces with a big smile.

Simon steps back and takes the phone out of her hand to actually get a look at what she’s showing him. It’s a tinder profile (which doesn’t even surprise him) of a brown-skinned guy with long hair, a big smile on his face. He does look good, Simon has to admit.

“The profile reads that this Meliorn figure enjoys ‘long walks through the nature’.”, Jace chimes in before Simon can say anything. “He’s just out there for sex, Iz.”

“First of all, it  _ also _ reads on the profile that they go with  _ they _ pronouns, so you better respect that, Jonathan Christopher.”, Isabelle shouts at him. “And second, what do I care? Then I’ll just bang them, whatever.”

“I know we have this conversation almost every day but  _ that is too much information _ .”, Alec grumbles and rubs a hand over his face.

“You’re just jealous because you still didn’t get any,” Isabelle smiles at him at takes her phone again. “They’re definitely worth a swipe, don’t you think, Si?”

“Uh, I guess?”, Simon says quickly, “Where’s Clary?”

“Jocelyn called earlier because apparently, she’s having a creative block.”, Jace explains and puts down a cup of coffee for Simon on the counter. “If you think that robs you off all reasons to stay here, feel free to leave, please.”

“And miss a chance to annoy you? Never.”

“Of course you don’t.”, Jace sighs and picks up a rag to clean the sink.

Simon gives him a sarcastic smile and picks up his coffee. Sitting down at their table, he asks Alec, “How’s things going with Magnus?”

“Remind me, why would I discuss that with you?”

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe because I was present when you met him?”, Simon offers as an explanation. Truth be told, he’s really curious about how Alec is handling the whole situation, seeing as he hasn’t been out to  _ anyone _ just yet.

“They’re going out tonight,” Isabelle announces, ignoring her brother’s scolding face at that. “Isn’t that cute?”

“Aw, really?”, Simon can’t help but grin. “It really is.”

“Shut up, Lewis.”, Alec growls. Simon could swear he’s blushing. 

  
  


-

 

“Magnus, what are you doing with my laptop?”

Raphael had just come out of the shower and entered the living room when he’d stopped dead on his tracks again. Actually, he should have expected that Magnus would go through his things if he were to forget them anywhere, simply because he’s Magnus. But he  _ had _ forgotten to put his laptop away and now Magnus is sitting on the couch, legs crossed and his laptop on top of them.

“Talking to your mum, man.”, Magnus says, looking up shortly. The next moment his eyes are fixed on the screen again. “Where’s Will then?”

“Had to stay home with James, poor  _ bebé _ is sick.”, Guadalupe’s voice comes out of the speakers.

Raphael suppresses a groan. It's just his luck that his mother would realise the Skype call they'd talked about (a week after they did) - and just when he's taking a shower. But, he decides, it doesn't matter. It's not like Magnus could ruin anything because he'd tell her about living with him anyway, so she's free to figure it out by Magnus picking up the call or him telling her or Raphael telling her. 

He walks around the couch to stand behind Magnus and bends down to be in the camera’s range. “Hello,  _ mamá. ¿Cómo estás? _ ”

“Fine,  _ cariño.  _ I just told Magnus that Jem and Tessa have come to visit! Isn’t that great?”

“How come?”, Raphael asks. The last time they’d been on the farm had been before the trio’s child, James, had been born about 2 years ago. 

“ _ Aparentemente _ , they just felt like it. Was about time,  _ no _ ?”, she replies. With a  look at Magnus she adds, “ _ Someone _ else could also feel free to stop by again.”

Magnus raises his hands in defense, “I’ll come over soon enough. Once I can trust my co-workers enough to leave the bar completely unsupervised.”

“That better be sooner than later.”, Guadalupe smiles. “Now say, since when do you two hang out so much that Raphael takes a shower at yours, Magnus?”

“Uh….”, Magnus makes and gets up. “You know, that’s something your son should tell you about himself.”, he says and hands Raphael the laptop, whispering, “Good luck, pal.”

Raphael grimaces before turning towards the screen. He can just hope that his mother’s disappointment won’t be too visible on her face, because  _ that’s _ a look nobody can stomach.

 

-

 

“Well, Magnus just cancelled on me.”, Alec sighs and slams his phone onto the table. It actually surprises Simon to see him react so violently.

“What? Why?”

“Apparently, his roommate has, I quote, ‘cast his mother’s wrath upon both of them’.”, Alec explains. “Raphael’s mum doesn’t seem too fond of him living with Magnus.”

“Seriously?”, Jace raises an eyebrow. “And he bails on you because of  _ that _ ? Guy doesn’t make sense.”


	7. Chapter 6

Simon’s actually confused as to how often you could probably run past the same person without recognizing them. Like, when you walk past a stranger day by day, it doesn’t matter. But once you’ve talked to the person, you start seeing them everywhere. 

Logically, it’s bound for him and Raphael to run into each other at university, considering they study at the same faculty and even have (different) classes by the same teacher. 

He’d actually spotted him a couple of times since the party at Magnus’ but he’s never spoken to him outside of their group. It’s like there’s a taboo about them acknowledging each other’s existence - either that or Simon is just anxious to meet Raphael without any person functioning as a buffer. Take your pick.

But today, Raphael looks horribly exhausted. He’s seated on one of the benches in front of the building Simon’s just had a class in, brooding over a magazine. His hair is untidy and Simon can see his dark eyebags from afar. Something must be really wrong for Raphael to look like that.

So, since Simon is a nice guy, he takes a deep breath and stalks over to him. “Hey, stranger.”

Raphael looks up at him, for a moment wearing an annoyed glance until he recognizes him. Then it just shows surprise. Simon guesses it’s a win for his person. “Simon. Hello.”

“You alright? No offense, but you look horrible.”

“Thanks.”, Raphael says dryly. “Actually, I’m busy.”

“Yeah, I figured. How about a coffee?”

“I’m  _ busy _ .”, Raphael lifts his magazine. Simon doesn’t recognize it but it certainly doesn’t look like fun.

“You look like you could use a break. Come on, I’m paying.”, he offers. “Maybe I can help you with whatever you’re stuck at.”

“Do you have any idea for a hypothetical app?”

Simon doesn’t even need to think about it. He’d once fantasized about becoming rich by inventing all kinds of things, so there’ll probably be something appropriately saved in his brain. So he smiles, “Sure. So, let’s go to Java’s. You ever been there? Jace works at it.”

Raphael still doesn’t look too convinced, but he sighs and puts the magazine into his messenger bag. He motions for Simon to start walking, indicating that he doesn’t know the café - or at least not the way. 

The café isn’t far from their building, so they arrive soon enough. Simon learns quickly that Raphael doesn’t argue about invitations and actually expects him to pay (Jace doesn’t work right now so Simon actually has to pay the full price. He regrets how nice he is.). Also, Raphael seems to enjoy sweet coffee over a black one. 

“So, what’s that clever idea of yours?”, Raphael asks once they settled down.

Simon takes a sip of his coffee. “You really don’t know how to chill, do you?”

“Not really in the position at this point.”

“You always seem to be tense.”

“We’ve seen each other only once before.”, Raphael states.

_ Ah _ , Simon thinks. So Raphael hasn’t seen his silhouette as often as vice versa. “What do you even need a ‘hypothetical app’ for?”

“I have this task in one of my marketing classes where we have to invent and advertise for an app. I just can’t think of one, so I’d even appreciate  _ your _ help.”

“I’ll just pretend to be not hurt.”, Simon says, touching his chest above his heart as a joke. “Actually, I don’t know if you’d like my idea because it has to do with comics.”

Raphael sighs. “Of course it does. Go on.”, he gestures with his hand.

“Okay, uh, do you know goodreads?”

Raphael shakes his head.

“It’s this platform where you can mark books as read. Or to-read. Or currently-reading. And lots more, if you like. Do you know tvshowtime?”

Again, Raphael shakes his head. Simon wonders how he even gets through life. Maybe he invests his time in  _ real _ things rather than hyperventilating about fictional characters’ lives.

“It’s superficially the same, just for tv shows.”, Simon explains. “But the thing is: tvshowtime tells you when a new episode is about to air. Goodreads doesn’t tell you when the next book of a series comes out. So, for a comic nerd who wants to be up-to-date with their volumes, a mix of the two would be cool.”

“So, an app where you can say what issues you have read and then it’ll tell you ‘Oh, the next Superman comes out next week’?”

“Pretty much.”

“Hm.”, Raphael makes, taking a sip of his own coffee.

He actually thinks about it. Simon can’t believe it.

“Why doesn’t something like this exist already?”

“Oh,” Simon makes. “There are similar things, but they’re lacking a few functions to be ideal. So yeah…”

“You’ve already put a lot of thought into this.”

“Hey, I like to have my fandoms organised.”, Simon shrugs. “Is this helpful?”

“It’s a start.”

“Do you need actual developing of the idea? I could help you with that, too. No problem.”

He actually has some more free time on his hands now that Maureen is spending a term abroad and the band’s put on a break. It’s probably for the better, actually, considering how awkward it had gotten after Maureen had confirmed her crush on him. Which is exactly the reason why he’d never told Clary. It would have ended the same way. But before Maureen’s back, she’ll be over him, probably, so that’s cool. Anyway, her not being here means he doesn’t have to practice any new songs, so he has more free time than ever before. He could spend it with Raphael, it would probably be cool to have holes burnt into your head because the other sends death glares at you all the time.

“Really? That’d be … nice.”, Raphael says slowly. “Thanks.”

-

 

Raphael watches Simon take another sip of his coffee and does the same. He thinks it’s pretty weird that Simon would offer him his help when he’s never done more than argue with him. He’s probably too nice for his own good.

“Like I said, no problem. Wouldn’t have offered if it were.”

“Well, that solves one of my problems.”, Raphael sighs and turns the cup in his hand.

“What are the others?”, Simon asks immediately, “I mean, if you want to talk about it. Maybe I can help?”

“Actually, it’s… about my living situation.”, Raphael states, figuring that it doesn’t matter if Simon knows. After all, he’d been there when he’s had the big fight with Camille. “You know, I’m searching for a new flat - for me only because I can’t stand living with strangers. But they’re all too expensive and I don’t have enough time to take up a proper job. And my mum’s slightly pissed that I won’t listen to her telling me to get back to Camille’s.”

“Your mother knows Camille?”

“Sure, we’ve known Camille for longer than Magnus.”

“Wow. How long is that?”

Raphael raises an eyebrow. “About… ten years? Magnus for, like, eight.”

“Are they friends of an older sibling or why do you know them for so long?”, Simon wants to know. 

Actually, Raphael can’t really blame him for being so nosey. “Camille came to ours as an Au Pair and then she started coming around every year. And when she got together with Magnus, she brought him along. And then, the next summer, they’d bring a friend and then another and so forth. The summer before my Senior year we had about five additional pairs of hands on our farm.”

“Hold up.”, Simon says, actually raising a hand. “Your current flatmate and your former flatmate  _ used to date _ ?”

“Uh, yeah.”, Raphael shrugs. “It’d been pretty serious for Magnus, for whatever reason, but she broke up with him during my senior year.”

“Wow. But you weren’t too fond of her?”

“She’s a two-hearted snake.”, Raphael states. “Played the perfect angel for my mum and behind her back, she’d act like the devil himself.”

“So, why did you move in with her if you didn’t like her?”

“Well, not that it’s actually of your business.”, Raphael starts. He feels like he can’t just be an ass to someone who just offered him his help without wanting anything in return. “But when I told my mum I wanted to study in New York, she’s told Camille about it and Camille, being how she is, randomly decided that  _ Oh _ , she could study in New York as well. So her and my mamá arranged that we’d live together before I could even say anything.”

“And you’re not one to say no to your mum, are you?”, Simon concludes. “Magnus mentioned something like that…”

Usually, Raphael would send him an evil glare but for a moment he’s surprised that Simon and Magnus would talk about  _ him _ when he’s not around. And before that moment is gone, Simon continues to talk. Of course.

“So, you did move in with her. And what did she do to piss you off so badly? You never said.”

“She’s decided to pull the same major as me and to let me do all her work. I’ve been fed up by it in the end.”

Simon nods. “Good thinking.”, he says and shoots a look at his watch. “I gotta get going, though, my next class starts early, so I gotta get running. I, uh, I’ll just add you on facebook and then we can talk about your app.”

“Okay,” Raphael manages to say before Simon is hurrying to the door. “Thank you.”

And then he’s left with two half-empty cups of coffee and a weirdly new sense of hope for humanity. If there’s even a single person like Simon who’d want to talk to you although you’ve never been particularly friendly (Raphael knows he’s generally not the nicest person himself but to be fair, Simon’s never met him in the best situations) and even offer his help with something that won’t profit him. He’s a good guy and somehow, Raphael doesn’t actually mind being around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mama Santiago has a farm full of queer kids at times. What a mum.  
> Also, Simon is addressing a very real and urgent problem for a comic nerd.


	8. Chapter 7

_ You’re now friends with Raphael Santiago. Send a message to say hello! _

01:23am

Okay, so. This has been quite a quest. 

You know. I went to add you but /then/ I noticed    
I don’t know your last name. So I went through

Alec’s friends to find Magnus to find you.

And. 

Your last name is SANTIAGO?

06:43am

Why. On Earth. 

Are you awake at half to two on a school night.

Couldn’t sleep. And then I remembered I 

wanted to add you.

So I did.

But don’t change topics! You’re named after

an ANGEL and a SAINT.

Apparently.

Man, what’s your second name, Jesús?

Actually, that’s my brother’s name.

Your brother is named JESUS?

Ricardo Jesús.

Wow. 

Do you have an equally pretentious Christian

second name?

No.

What is it then?

02:19pm

Why’d you care?

Mine is Ian.

Simon Ian Lewis?

Has a ring on it, doesn’t it?

Quite so.

Now it’s your turn.

I told me my second name, now you tell me.

No.

Oh, come on!

10:22pm

I WILL find out. And then I’ll have power 

over you.

 

-

 

“Will you be introduced as the boyfriend?”, Raphael asks while trying to figure out whether the socks in his hand are his own or Magnus’.

Magnus is currently staring at the three blazers that he had chosen into the shortlist for what to wear tonight when he’s at the Lightwoods’ place for dinner. He and Alec had gone out a couple more time and while they still haven’t made things official, Magnus has been invited over. Raphael guesses that after tonight, things either will have ended or be confirmed for public.

“I do hope so.”, Magnus mutters, “If Alec doesn’t say it, Izzy probably will. … Hey, does red suit me?”

Raphael raises an eyebrow at the blazer Magnus is holding up against his chest. It doesn’t look red, but more like pink, actually. “It doesn’t fit with your highlights.”, he decides, pointing at the blue in Magnus’ hair. “Just go for the black one. Black’s always fine.”

“Sure you’d say that.”

“Your  _ whatever he may be now _ would certainly agree.”

Magnus huffs and stares down at the black piece of clothing. “Hm, I suppose maybe you’re right. Thank you.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Around half to 6, I guess? I have to be there at 6, but it’s always good to be early. I even have the wine I’ll bring ready already.”, Magnus elaborates. “You had somewhere to be, as well, right?”

“Yeah, I’m meeting up with Simon at 4.”, Raphael shrugs. “He’s helping me with that one project.”

“The one you had the fight with Camille over? Because if so, you’ve taken a big break.”

“ _ No _ , dumbass. It’s a new one. For the other I’ve stayed awake for the whole night multiple times, remember?”

Magnus thinks about it. “I thought you were homesick.”

Raphael snorts at that. It might have been weird to be staying at Magnus’ place at first, but it’s definitely better than having rather violent fights with Camille every single day. The new environment he’s been in all of sudden may have contributed to the decision to just work throughout entire nights, but actually the pressure of only having three days to finish the project had been worse. That’s why he’d tried to start the next one earlier, but seeing as he’s spent two weeks brainstorming before Simon helped him, he doesn’t have much time left for that one either.

“And Sterling is helping you with that? You didn’t sound too fond of him, to be frank.”, Magnus wonders. “I mean, when did that even happen? You’ve only met once, haven’t you?”

“Twice, actually. Ran into each other on campus the other day.”, Raphael tells him. “I’m pretty sure I mentioned that, but you’re head’s stuck on Cloud 9.”

“Okay, cool. Now tell me, should I wear my hair differently than usually? I don’t know if the Lightwoods would appreciate semi-punk.”

At that Raphael can’t help but laugh, seeing as it’s just confirming what he’s just said. Magnus has always been quite the easily distracted kind of person, but it’s even worse now than ever. The only thing that’d be close would probably be when he’d been on their farm with camille back in the day, but while he’d been utterly in love with her for whatever reason, the lovebird phase had been gone already.

“You own a club, Magnus. Once they know that, nothing will shock them anymore.”

 

-

 

“I hope you do realise that this is not a date.”

Raphael’s voice is serious as he looks at Simon with a stern expression. He's pushed his empty cup away and lowers his hand into the bowl of fries between them. 

Up to now Simon hadn't even thought about considering them meeting a date. Sure he's suggested it but they actually worked on Raphael’s project before going to a bar, sharing food - but he didn't even think about it. Now that Raphael mentions it, he realizes it does look like it. And actually, somehow, maybe, he'd like it to be one. 

They had fun together -  Simon had, at least, and Raphael's comments were only slightly  _ teasing _ instead of annoyed, so he guesses that's a plus. 

“Oh, I-- no, I didn't think so!”, Simon admits. 

Raphael eyes him without anything changing in his face. “I mean, the perspective of dating you isn't  _ that _ bad, after all, I suppose, but… that's not what I do, you know?”

Raphael doesn't even look uncomfortable stating it. Instead, he says it as if he was saying what he studies. Like it's a normal part of him. Which it probably really is. 

“Oh,” Simon makes. “So, you're aromantic?”

He’s recently spent most of his time on the social justice side of tumblr rather than the fandom one like he usually does, trying to figure out if he could find a label that fits him on there somewhere. Naturally, he’d come across several terms that  _ totally _ didn’t fit to him (like aromantic), but he’s read through them anyway. For now, he thinks “pansexual” may be a thing for him, but he’s not certain yet.

Raphael nods. 

“Well, cool.”, Simon tells him.  “Thanks for telling me!”

“So… you're not…?”

“Upset? Well, a bit, I guess - but I mean, that's part of you and it's valid and if you don't have romantic feelings that's you and it's fine and I get it.”

“I was just thinking, because this looks an awful lot like how Magnus described his first date with Alec, so I figured I better clear things up.”, Raphael says with a soft shrug.

“They’re together now, aren’t they? I mean, Magnus is meeting his parents tonight, isn’t he?”, Simon wants to know. Considering that (as far as he knows, at least) Alec hasn’t even come out to his parents yet, it seems like quite a statement.

“It’d seem so.”, Raphael says. “Magnus’ panicking has calmed down a bit, so I’d count that as progress.”

“So, are you familiar with all the stages he goes through when he crushes on someone?”, Simon asks, remembering that the two of them have known each other for quite a while.

“Not really.”, Raphael tells him. “He hasn’t tried to pursue an actual relationship after Camille broke up with him. That is, until now. And back then, they were already together when I first met him.”

“Did Magnus, like, get super aggressive before Alec went out with him? Because if not, I suppose it’s a Clary-thing.”

“He hasn’t.”, Raphael chuckles. “Clary’s the red-head, isn’t she?”

“ _ The redhead _ ,” Simon repeats in a mocking voice (As if that were the most interesting thing about Clary!), “is my  _ best friend _ . We’re practically siblings, considering for how long we’ve known each other. She’s the most important person to me.”

“Did you go through one of those embarrassing cliche ‘I have a crush on my best friend’ phases?”, Raphael asks, smirking at him. 

“Okay, you know what? Fuck you.”, Simon grins at him. “It’s not my fault that the guys in comics  _ always _ get their best friends.”

And at that, Raphael has the  _ audacity _ to  _ laugh _ at him. Like, at first he chuckles and then he totally breaks out into laughter. If it weren’t such a heartwarming sound, Simon would’ve been able to keep wearing his pissed expression. But he can’t help but start laughing, too.

In retrospective, it  _ had _ been freaking weird to think that he and Clary could become something more, especially considering they’d been each other’s first kiss and there hadn’t even been so much as sparks. No, in fact, they don’t have any romantic tension. Simon had just figured that  _ if _ he’d ever have a crush on someone, it must be Clary and pretty much threw himself into it, exaggerating on his own feelings.

It is pretty funny, when you think about it.

“For the record, I’m over it. Plus, Clary’s dating Alec’s brother, so that’s something you don’t want to get your head into.”, Simon states. “Except, like, to play the big brother yourself.”

“ _ Do _ you have any siblings?”

“Yes, an older sister. I barely see her at the moment, though, she’s going to college in DC.”, Simon says. “You have a brother, right? Do you miss him?”

“Three, actually. It’s okay, actually. I’ll see them again next week.”

“How come?”

“I’m going home for Cinco de Mayo.”, Raphael explains. “I mean, you don’t usually celebrate it outside of Puebla, but my great-grandfather has fought in the battle, so we do.”

“Cool! So you’ll be gone the whole week?”

“Leaving on the fourth and coming back on Saturday.”, Raphael says with a small smile. He seems to really look forward to getting home. “There’s only so many classes I can miss.”

“Hm,” Simon makes and then he recalls, “So, you’re coming back and immediately having that presentation on our super-cool app?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Hah, you agreed it’s  _ our _ app and that it’s super-cool!”

Raphael raises an eyebrow. “I’m taking back my earlier statement. Whoever ends up dating you has my full sympathy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've found out that apparently summer break in the US starts in May?????  
> This is fucking weird.  
> So since this is written by a little German being, just pretend that summer break only starts in, like, July for the rest of this story. Wouldn't make sense otherwise.


	9. Chapter 8

Raphael has one bad habit. Not more, just that one. Whenever his phone buzzes, he immediately checks what it’s about. It’s something he’s gotten used to before his acceptance at the university, and only been strengthened during a very stressful freshman year.

So, naturally, he can’t help but check his messages when his phone goes off in the evening. He’s sitting in the living room with his family, sharing stories. Of course his mother gives him a warning look, but he decides to ignore it - maybe it’s something urgent?

**Simon Lewis:** Hey, you’ve arrived by now, haven’t you? Hope your flight was nice!

**Simon Lewis** : Check this out! [image attached]

The picture Simon has sent him must’ve been taken in a comic shop, judging by the shelf he can spot in the background. In centre however, there’s a massive Darth Vader figurine with Simon and Clary on each of its sides. Simon is wearing a brown coat and holding up a lightsaber, while Clary is dressed completely in white and having her hair put up on each side of her head.

 

07:56pm

That’s… cool, I suppose.

COOL? This is mega awesome!

Probably. If you’re into it.

Wait.

What.

Are you saying.

You don’t like Star Wars?

I’ve never seen it, to be honest.

HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE SEEN STAR WARS.

I don’t know? I never felt like it, especially when the big 

plot twists are turned into obligatory jokes. I know that 

they’re siblings and Vader’s their father.

There’s more to the story than two plot twists! 

There are seven movies!

I can’t believe you haven’t seen them.

… Sorry?

I will so make you watch them when you’re back. 

Can’t believe I helped someone who hasn’t 

watched Star Wars.

 

-

 

“I think I just found out the ultimate solution for unwanted crushes.”, Simon announces when Clary comes back into his room, carrying a bowl of popcorn that his mother had prepared for their annual marathon (bless her). “It’s, obviously, not having watched Star Wars.”

“Wait, what? You have a  _ crush _ ?”

Simon freezes at that. First of all, he hadn’t realized that  _ yes _ , maybe he wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Raphael more often or… other things that include him, before it had slipped out. And second, he hadn’t shared with Clary that he was doubting his sexuality. 

So now would probably be the time to admit both things, he guesses.

“Uh, I guess? I don’t know, really, to be honest.”, he says slowly. “I mean, he looks freakishly good and he’s, um, very interesting? He’s a fucking sarcastic asshole, but it’s also endearing? But, uh,” he adds when he sees Clary’s baffled face, “he has never seen Star Wars, so uhh….”

“ _ He _ ?”, Clary shrieks, “When did  _ that _ happen?”

“Um… Recently? Suppose I’m not as straight as I thought…”

“That’s a surprise,” Clary makes, blinking a few times before breaking into a smile. “But wow, cool! I’m proud of you! Who is it?”

“There’s, uh, a tiny small chance that it might be, you know, Raphael?”

“ _ Raphael _ ?”, Clary repeats. “Well, that explains a lot.”

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”, Clary assures him, though she’s wearing a smirk. “It’s just, you were acting pretty obsessed with him, so now you have a reason at least.”

“I’ve been informed about being obvious.”, Simon says bitterly. “In fact,  _ he _ told me it wouldn’t work out.”

“What? You asked him  _ out _ already? Before even  _ telling _ me?”

“ _ No _ , I did not. You know how I helped him with this project?”

Clary nods.

“We were out to grab something to eat afterwards and he basically told me that I  _ shouldn’t _ think of it as a date. And that it wouldn’t work out because… reasons.”, he closes. Raphael may have told  _ him _ he was aromantic, but that doesn’t mean he could run around and tell everyone.

“Wow, ouch. And you’re still texting with him?”

“To be honest, I hadn’t even  _ realized _ until just now.  _ And _ I just said I would  _ make _ him watch the movies.”

Now that he  _ knows _ he has a crush on Raphael, he’ll totally freak out the next time he sees him. He’ll be aware that he  _ should _ blush whenever Raphael looks at him and now he  _ will _ do it, just because he  _ knows _ . How is he supposed to spend several hours with him then to watch  _ Star War _ s? Maybe Raphael will simply say no and then the whole thing is over. And since Simon is not even really friends with Alec, there’s no reason for him to see Magnus ever again and thus, he’d never have to see Raphael again. But that also doesn’t seem like a happy option, when he thinks about it. 

“You must really hate yourself.”, Clary sighs and claps his shoulder.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all forgive me for not writing ind etail what Raphael's been up to back in Mexico, simply because I have no clue how you celebrate Cinco de Mayo. And ebcause of that I'd figured just to keep it vague so I wouldn't offend anyone.

Raphael had not expected to chat with Simon throughout his whole stay back home in  Zacatecas, but he did. Whenever he wasn’t occupied with festivities, his brothers or work on the farm, he’d have his phone in his hands and reading whatever Simon has sent him in the meantime.

It’s a good way to keep up with what is happening in New York since Simon is the only one foolish enough to dare disturbing him while he is at his mother’s (Camille is out of the picture, though Raphael supposes she has called his mother at previous times, and both Magnus and Ragnor know better than to distract him). Surprisingly, his mamá doesn’t mind him laughing at his phone that much.

Simon doesn’t even have any connections to people of Raphael’s interest. He’d write about Alec’s sister teasing him about Magnus every now and then, but that’s about it. More often than not, Simon complains about his accounting homework or what music his mother has decided to listen to, about Clary’s newest painting or the fact that Isabelle and Magnus have teamed up to paint his nails one day. Sadly, Raphael has not gotten a photo. It would’ve been too good for blackmailing purposes.

So when Raphael comes back to New York, he’s spent half his vacation texting and still had no clue what has  _ actually _ happened in the meantime. There could probably be a murder spree going on and unless Simon decided to hunt down the killer, he wouldn’t have known about it.

Naturally, he’s kind of surprised when he finds Alec and Magnus curled up on the couch as they watch shome cooking show. And it’s even more surprising to see that Alec has lost his nervousness so soon already, because he barely even blushes.

“You need help with the case?”, Magnus wants to know without even doing so much as looking up.

“You didn’t offer when I left so I’m just gonna assume you’re asking to seem good in front of your boyfriend.”, Raphael states and pulls his suitcase through the room, making as much noise as he can.

“Welcome back, Raphael!”

“Thanks, Alec.”, Raphael calls over his shoulder, “Mind if I join you later?”

“Feel free to.”

Raphael smiles softly to himself as he enters his room, putting the case onto the bed and opening it. Before he takes out the clothes, though, he sends Simon a short text saying he’s back home.

The reply only arrives when he’s seated in the living room (the cooking show has been abandoned for The Voice by now), saying he’s happy to hear that and that they have to meet up soon.

“Tell Guadalupe I said hi.”, Magnus mumbles into his direction, “Assuming you’re telling her you got home safe.”

“Uh, yeah, of course.”, Raphael quickly closes the chat and really  _ does _ text his mum. Why he hasn’t done it right away is beyond him.

 

-

 

“So, uh.”, Clary starts, “Remember how Lydia invited us to her wedding? And we said we’d go there together?”

“Yeah, of course.”, Simon answers, putting away the plate he’d just dried off. In the background, Jocelyn is laughing about a joke Luke must have made.

“Well, we decided about that while Jace and I were on a break, so I was thinking that maybe…”

“You want to take Jace as your date.”

Clary gives him an apologetic smile, “I guess? I mean, I don’t have to--”

“No, it’s fine. I get why you’d want to, of course.”, Simon says quickly. “Lets me look a bit stupid, though.”

“You could ask… another friend.”, Clary purposes. 

Immediately, Simon’s mind provides him a picture of Raphael in a nice dark suit, sitting next to him at Clary’s cousin’s wedding reception and smiling as he accepts a glass of sparkling water a waiter hands him. Simon sits next to him, a dreamy expression written on his face as he leans it onto a hand and sighs.

“No, can’t do.”, Simon says quickly and shakes his head.

“Why not? I’m certain Izzy would like to come.”, Clary says. “She’d never say no to an opportunity to show off, would she?”

“Oh. Izzy. No, I guess you’re right.”, he accepts another plate she hands him, “Would that even be okay with Meliorn?”

“A) You aren’t asking her  _ out _ , are you? B) It wouldn’t even matter because they have an  _ open _ relationship.”, Clary says in a voice that requires a  _ duh _ .

“Okay, fine, I’ll ask her once we’re finished here.”

 

-

 

“So this,” Simon says and takes something out of his bag, “is a national treasure.”

Raphael manages to get a look on it as he puts it down on the table. It’s two boxsets kept mostly in black design, with silhouettes of characters on them. Both of them have Star Wars written onto it in big letters.

“I suppose this is an impressive thing to have among nerds?”, Raphael asks with a raised eyebrow. It  _ is _ a really cool design, he has to admit.

It’s early noon on the Saturday after Raphael came back to New York and he’d met up with Simon to tell him how the professor has liked  _ their _ app - which, turns out, he did a lot - but somehow it quickly turned into them going to Jave Jones and talking about the most random things.

“Oh come on,” Simon groans, “Why are you like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“As if you don’t have any secret obsession. Like, what about, I don’t know, Star Trek maybe? If you haven’t seen Star wars, you’ve probably seen Star Trek.”

“Aren’t those initially the same?”

At that Simon almost jumps out of his seat, clutching a hand against his chest and opening his mouth in shock. “How! Dare! You!”

Judging by his heavy breathing and the fact that it looks like a vene on his forehead is about to combust, Raphael thinks he might’ve done a mistake just now. Out of the corner of his eye he sees people stare at them and he decides to calm Simon down  _ somehow _ . “I like Doctor Who.”

Simon’s mouth curls into a grin despite his eyes staying at the same big size. “ _ Doctor Who _ ?”

“Uh, yeah. Camille showed it to us. You know, she’s originally from London.”

“Did she just want to live up to English stereotypes or does she like it?”

“I think the former. She never made any faces at whatever happened.”, Raphael remembers. “But then again, she rarely does anything but a Bitch Face or a dangerous smirk.”

“Man, does she sound like a nice person.”

“Totally.”, Raphael snorts.

“Anyway, I brought these babies,” Simon points at the DVDs, “Because I thought maybe you’d be up to watch them?”

“With you?”

“Not necessarily!”, Simon says quickly, looking down at the boxsets, “I mean, you can take them home and watch them on your own or… we go to your place and watch them together.”

“Why would have to happen at my place?”

“My mum would turn into a personality test, actually. That’s not something useful when there are  _ more important manners _ at hand. Namely, Star Wars.”

“Glad to know your curiosity is inherited.”, Raphael states. Then he sighs, “You know what? Fine. But one condition.”

“What would that be?”

“You’re not allowed to ask Magnus about my childhood obsessions.”

Simon frowns for a moment before he breaks into a grin again, “So you  _ did _ have some!”

 

-

 

**To Clary Fray:** Raphael likes SUPERMAN!

**To Clary Fray:** SUPER

**To Clary Fray** : MAN

**To Clary Fray:** Also Interview with the Vampire

**To Clary Fray** : I have welcomed death into my house, you may be planning my funeral.

**From Clary Fray:** Why do you hate yourself so much, Si?


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Underage Drinking and lowkey Blood TW for this chap.

Raphael  _ hates _ Magnus’ club. It's loud and full and sticky and certainly not where he'd like to be at 11 on a Friday night. Especially not to pick someone up whom he barely knows because said someone forgot that he's only 18 years old. 

Magnus had called him earlier, snarling, “Raph, my boy,” into the phone as soon as Raphael had picked up. Magnus had a lot of pet names for him, much to his annoyance, but ‘my boy’ is never a good sign. “You gotta come by.”

“To the club? Why?”

Long story short, apparently Simon had gotten drunk at the bar, Magnus doesn’t have Clary’s number and Raphael owes him a favour for getting to live at his place. And that’s why he’s in the Pandemonium when he’d much rather lie in bed.

Magnus is behind the bar when he enters, looking relieved. “Thank God, you're here. Hurry up and get him out before I get any problems.”

“You know that, technically, you would have to call the police, right?”, Raphael offers. 

Magnus gives him a sour look. “Shut up, you're studying business administration, not law.”

Raphael rolls his eyes. “Where's he?”

“I seated him in the VIP area, but no idea if he's still there.”

Without further comment, Raphael goes upstairs to where Magnus has put several couches to create what he likes to call a VIP lounge. It's pretty much the same as downstairs, you still hear the obnoxious bad music and all those who talk downstairs  _ but _ you get to sit at least.

Simon’s sitting on one of the sofas. On first sight, he doesn't look too bad. Sure his clothes are a bit out of place and his hair is messy, but he's smiling brightly at the barely clothed women crowding him. 

Two of them are sitting next to him, one having curled her arm around his neck and stroking his hair, the other touches his arm lightly. Simon is excitedly telling a story and probably doesn't even realise how intimate the situation is. 

Raphael doesn't really want to interrupt whatever he's talking about, but he doesn't think it'll have a good ending considering the women look basically  _ hungry _ , so he does. “Simon!”

Simon looks up and somehow, his grin grows even wider when he sets eyes on Raphael. He wonders if he really did only have alcohol and not drugs. “Raphael!”, he smiles at him before turning to one of the women, “That is Raphael -- he’s  _ so _ cool.”

“Simon, come on up,” Raphael tells him, holding out a hand for him.

Simon does as he’s told without arguing but when he stands next to Raphael, holding onto his hand, he asks, “Are we gonna dance? The music is really cool, I wanna dance!”

“No, we--”, Raphael starts. When he heard the women giggle as they look at Simon, he adds, “You know what? Yes, we'll dance.”

“Really?”, Simon beams at him with big eyes. Before Raphael can respond, he pulls him down the stairs at such a rapid speed that they both almost fall. 

He manages to catch Simon in what could be an awkward embrace, if you like, and Simon starts swaying them immediately. Raphael remembers that he’d told him once how he has a band, but right now he can’t even imagine the guy to have any sense of rhythm.

“’m glad ye came! It w’sn’t real’fun with’t ye!”, Simon shouts at him, slurring his words.

“So you thought you’d drink until it’s fun? You’re  _ wasted _ , Simon.”

“I’m drunk?”

“ _ Yes _ .”, Raphael answers loudly, “We should get you home.”

“You cn’t! M’mum woul’ kill m’!”

For a moment, Raphael thinks that  _ maybe _ , Simon should’ve thought about that earlier, but he decides that arguing with him at that moment wouldn’t lead to anything. “What about my home?”

“Your home?”

“Yes. At Magnus’.”

“Hm,” Simon makes, “like the bed.”

“So, will you come with me?”

Simon nods enthusiastically and starts pulling Raphael towards what he must think is the exit - meaning he pulls into the exact opposite direction. Raphael has to use all his strength to get Simon go with him, which comes as a surprise. 

As they make their way towards the exit at last, though, Magnus salutes at him.

 

-

 

When Simon wakes up, his first thought is ‘Where is my Buffy poster?’. The next is ‘Who tried to run a knife through my head?’ as he shuts his eyes closed again. 

While he buries his head back into the pillow, last night comes back to him. Jace had convinced him and Jordan to go into Magnus’ club, guaranteeing that they'd get inside since they're friends with Alec, and then in the club they'd been drinking and dancing until suddenly, Simon had been alone. 

So, since he isn't an idiot, he'd gone to look for Magnus because if someone in the club knows where someone is, it's probably the owner. Simon had been pretty tipsy at that point so he hadn't even thought about it when Magnus has sent him into the VIP area. He hadn't even been confused when he didn't find his friends there but some really pretty ladies who'd dived into a conversation with him. 

And then, he remembers, Raphael had suddenly been there. He'd danced with Raphael. And then Raphael had taken him to  _ his _ home. 

So that's where he is. 

Carefully he peeks an eye open again. It's not even that bright in the room, with some light curtains being drawn, but still, the wally are white. The room generally is, with a few accents here and there. 

He guesses that this is how Magnus has decorated his guest room before Raphael claimed it because somehow, Simon doesn't think even Raphael wouldn't have a room that looks so sterile. 

_ Oh shit _ , he's lying in Raphael’s bed. 

He'd have expected himself to get out of it as fast as possible, logically, but instead he lifts the blanket to his face and takes in the aroma. It  _ smells _ intensely. 

He’s acting like a lovesick teenager. 

He crawls over to the end of the bed to get a look of himself in the mirror on the opposite wall and sighs when he sees the dark circles under his eyes. Trust him to look like utter shit when he wakes up in his crush’s (!) bed. 

Well, at least he's waking up alone.

And just when he thinks that, he hears noises from somewhere outside the room. Plates being put down on a table. Someone’s making breakfast. 

He gets up from where he's kneeling on the edge of the bed and stretches his back. Surprisingly, it doesn't hurt like it usually does. 

He finds his jeans lying on the floor next to the bed and puts them on before opening the door. He's met by the harsh smell of scrambled eggs and hushed voices discussing something. 

The next moment he sees Raphael and Magnus standing in the part of the room that’s been chosen as the kitchen. Simon has only been here twice before, so naturally he’s still in awe by how big the loft really is - living room, kitchen, dining room and hall all in one big room (it’s probably as big as his mum’s entire flat). 

Raphael’s standing at the oven, preparing the scrambled eggs that Simon’s been smelling, while Magnus is sitting on one of the bar stools and drinking out of a huge cup.

“Morning?”, Simon says carefully, his voice a little husky. 

As a response, Magnus just huffy and crosses his eyes. It's a pretty weird behaviour for him so Simon is a little confused. It must have shown on his face because Raphael chuckles softly. 

Simon likes the sound. He gets to hear it pretty often because Raphael doesn't laugh out loud but always lets out a quiet chuckle, fully in control of what noises he makes. It's the most you'll ever hear of Raphael finding something  funny, so Simon savours the sound whenever he gets to experience it. 

“He’s ignoring you.”, Raphael explains. “But it'll wear off soon enough, knowing him. I even got him to clean your glasses.”, he adds, motioning to the seat across from Magnus. 

Simon follows with his eyes and sees his glasses placed next to an empty plate and a glass of water. There's also a small white pill. Aspirin.  _ Oh _ , he could kiss Raphael. 

“Thank you.”, Simon breaths, looking at both men. 

He takes a seat and once he's faced with Magnus (or actually, should be but isn't because the other is stubbornly staring at the oven), he feels bad for what's happened yesterday. Since he's here and the other boys aren't, he guesses that he's been the only one of the group dumb enough to accept drinks from strangers. You'd think he'd know better since he's grown up in New York, but a small part of his mind had just decided it'd be okay because it's  _ Magnus’ _ club. He should be lucky he hasn't been drugged. 

“Magnus…“, he starts slowly. “I get that you're mad and you have all right to be. I'm really sorry for screwing up. You told us you'd get in trouble if we… You know.”

Magnus doesn't respond. 

“He'll come around.”, Raphael says, stirring through the pan. “He’s used to do worse things, so he'll get it. I mean, not that it's been okay, but we all do mistakes.”

Simon smiles at him, thankful that he doesn't shout at him. Somehow, Raphael seems like a guy who'd flip out at you, having short temper and overall annoyance, when actually he's really understanding. 

“You ready to stomach food yet?”

“Let's see.”, Simon smiles and gulps the pill in front of him as Raphael puts down the pan. 

 

-

 

Raphael knows that Magnus won't keep sulking forever. He's a way too chatty person to not react to Simon’s awfully cheerful talking. 

Besides, it's not like Magnus hasn't been the one to almost burn down his parents’ barn with a joint. Or when he took some of the eggs that were meant to be sold on the market. Or when he took Raphael out for a bike tour and caused an accident. All of those would've been plenty of reasons for Guadalupe to never want to see Magnus again and yet she always welcomed him back (shed never forget about it, though, and that's the reason why Magnus is convinced that Raphael’s mother hates him). 

He’s certain that Magnus has learnt to forgive through those lectures and that he'll do the same with Simon. 

As Simon shoves fork after fork of the scrambled eggs into his mouth, Magnus checks his phone for any new mails. He's tapping furiously on the screen soon enough, wearing a grim expression. Raphael guesses that he's informing his boyfriend about what's happened last night. 

“When did you come to the club and get me?”, Simon wants to know at one point, shooting a look at the clock. 

“Pretty early. Around one.”, Raphael answers. “You must've drunk quite the strong stuff to be that wasted.”

“It's not been  _ that _ bad.”, Simon protests. “I remember everything!”

“Really?”, Raphael looks at him in surprise. 

Simon  _ had _ seemed pretty drunk when he'd picked him up. The walk through the fresh air might’ve helped him sober up a little bit, but Raphael’s sure that Simon would've never asked him to share a bed if he weren't still intoxicated immensely. He hadn’t even blushed at that point, but pouted, and if hadn’t been for that, Raphael would never have crawled up next to him.

Simon doesn't tell about anything he's done or said last night which makes it hard to guess if he really remembers, but grins at him instead. 

His lip cracks open at the sudden stretch and starts bleeding immediately, the dark liquid running through the tiny wrinkles. 

Raphael wonders what it'd be like to reach over and taste it, to press his lips against Simon’s and feel the wetness of the blood on his own lips. His lips must be hard and dry, judging by how quickly they've been torn, and would feel scratchy on his own soft pair. It would probably feel nice, in a weird way. 

In the next moment, Raphael is shocked and confused. 

First of all, he'd just fantasized about drinking  _ blood _ . That's not only weird, it's disgusting. 

And second, he's thought about  _ kissing _ Simon. About shoving his face against the other’s, pulling him closer by the neck, running their tongues against one another… That's  _ never _ happened before. Not ever. 

Why on earth would his mind supply something like that to him all of sudden? 

He’s never had a problem with admitting that certain people are good-looking, attractive even (just not sexually attractive) but that’s been it for him. He’s never wished to make out with a single person, so why’d he want to kiss blood off  _ Simon Lewis _ ’ lips?

“You alright?”, Simon suddenly says, snapping Raphael out of his thoughts. He must’ve been staring.

He blinks a few times, directing his eyes from Simon’s lips to his eyes. He looks slightly concerned which does not help Raphael’s case at all. 

“Uh, yeah.”

“You’ve got a little something on your lips.”, Magnus says suddenly, an amused tone in his voice.

Simon frowns at reaches for his lip and Raphael takes this moment of distraction to exchange a glance with Magnus. The other must’ve noticed him staring, judging by the excitement he must feel about it, and if he did he’ll never stop teasing Raphael about it. And in fact, Magnus smiles brightly at him. Great.

“Oh, that happens sometimes, don’t worry.”, Simon says cheerfully. “You know, I’ve got this habit of biting my lips a lot and naturally they crack at one point or another, so yeah. Nothing bad.”

“That’s… good to hear.”, Magnus says slowly, his eyes still fixed on Raphael as he takes a sip of his coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so _maybe_ Raph has a blood kink. Maybe.


	12. Chapter 11

When Raphael’s said that Magnus is his oldest friend, he hasn’t been lying. But more often than not, ‘oldest’ does not equal ‘best’. He’s closer to Magnus than he’d like to admit, but still, their friendship is mostly made up by sarcastic banter and not by emotional talks.

Not that he ever really  _ has emotional _ talks but if anything ever came close to that, he’d share it with Ragnor.

So, logically, when facing a crisis, he'd call Ragnor. He'd called him after his fight with Camille, too, actually. He'd been the one who told him to go to Magnus’. On his own, Raphael’s pride would probably have been too big. 

“Hey,  _ mi querida moco _ ,” Ragnor singsongs into the phone once he's picked up. 

“Regardless of the insulting nickname, it's actually  _ querid _ o _ moco _ .”, Raphael tells him. Ragnor had only asked him to teach him Spanish a few months ago, so he's happy to correct him, even if he'd still wondering how he could be so oblivious to the language despite having been friends with an entire Mexican family for years. “You've got to make both words male.”

“Why though?”, Ragnor wonders. “Like, why is everything gendered in Spanish? What if a non-binary person wants to talk about themself?”

“I don't know.”, Raphael admits. “If I ever happen to meet one who speaks Spanish, I'll ask them for you.”

“Thanks, bud.”, Ragnor answers.

“Where are you today?”, Raphael wants to know. You never know with Ragnor. One day he'll be in America, the next somewhere in Europe. Perks of inheriting a fortune. 

“ _ Los Angeles _ .”, Ragnor replies, pronouncing it the Spanish way. Raphael can hear the grin in his voice. “Have you ever been here? The guy named after an angel should have seen the City of Angels at least once.”

“Maybe when I'm through with college.”, Raphael says. 

For a second he expects his friend to invite him along, seeing as he has enough money, but he doesn't. Apparently he's learnt from the huge fight they once had about money (or rather, Raphael’s apparent lack thereof).

“Hm.”, Ragnor makes. “Are Magnus and his boytoy as sickenly cute as they seem on Facebook?”

“I don't know, on a scale of one to that time Diego asked Camille to marry him, how'd  _ you  _ rate it?”

“Definitely beneath.”, he decides. “Your brother was so cute that even Camille forgot to be a heartless bitch for a second.”

Raphael chuckles fondly at that memory, remembering how Diego, at the age of 5, had sunk down on one knee in front of Camille after dinner and given the best proposal a kindergarten kid could do. It really was heartbreaking when Camille told him she'd be too old for him. (Not to mention the initial hatred Diego had felt towards Magnus when he first met him the next year.)

“Anyway, Magnus and Alec are only shortly below the entirety of Catarina’s existence, to be frank.”

“For real?”

“Yeah.”, Raphael says grimly. 

“Damn.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“What about you, though?”, Ragnor asks then. “That didn't just sound annoyed but  _ jealous _ .”

Raphael suppresses a groan at that. He should've known Ragnor would find out about the twist in his stomach whenever he sees Magnus bury his face in Alec’s neck. Besides, it's the very thing he'd wanted to talk about. 

“I'm… actually, I've been rethinking my sexuality lately.”, Raphael admits. “Or rather, romantic attraction.”

“What? Because of  _ Magnus _ ? Because, listen, that'd be sick.”, Ragnor tells him. 

“No, of course not!”, Raphael protests. “And neither because of Alec.”

“Okay, uh. Why don't you just tell me what's up?”

And Raphael does, even though he'd rather be burnt alive than talk about his  _ feelings _ . But the thing is, he's always come to Ragnor with stuff like this. Ragnor had been the one to tell him about sexualities beyond straight and gay, so naturally he's the one to confront when he has an identity crisis. 

“And basically, I want to punch him in the face.”, Raphael finishes his talk about Simon. 

“With your lips?”

“Ideally.”, Raphael admits. “But a chair would be fine, too.”

“Awww.”, Ragnor makes. “So, what's your problem? Just go for it! The kissing, I mean.”

“Did you even listen to me? I told him I was aromantic! Which, for the record, I was convinced of until  _ him _ .”

“Why are you talking in the past sense, bud? You're still aro if you feel like it.”

“Uh, do  _ I _ have to remind you what ‘aromantic’ means?”

“It's a spectrum.”, Ragnor states, sounding like it's the most obvious thing. “There are people who identify as a  _ kind _ of aromantic and are  _ married _ .”

“You're kidding.”, Raphael says. 

“I mean, even if you don't identify as aromantic anymore, it's fine. Sexuality is  _ always _ something to figure out.”

Raphael stays quiet at that. Ragnor  _ has _ told him before that sexuality is fluid, but he's always felt comfortable with identifying as both asexual and aromantic, so he's never given it a second thought. It sounds more than perfect to think that he can still be  _ that _ and go on a date with a cute guy. 

“Well, he's probably over me.”, he says quietly, cursing at himself mentally. Simon  _ had _ been interested and he's sent him off. 

“Gotta ask,  _ amigo _ .”, Ragnor proposes. 

“Wow, that's helpful.”

“Have Magnus ask him.”

“Knowing him, he'd probably just straight up tell him.”

“Well, then it would be over at least. But seriously, your orientation is valid nonetheless.”, Ragnor assures him again. “if everything fails, just go for the bold move.”

“Sure.”, Raphael mutters. “Just to be clear: If you tell Magnus before I can, you'll be dead.”

“Hey, sweetheart.”, Ragnor laughs. “You're the only one I call.”

 

-

 

“Believe it or not, we’ve never been in Chicago.”, Isabelle announces, smiling softly at Jace who’s fallen asleep against Clary’s shoulder.

“And here I thought you’ve been everywhere.”, Simon mumbles. 

For some reason Jocelyn had decided to take a flight in the middle of the night, probably because it’s cheaper or something, meaning they’ve all had to stay up until 4 in the morning. They’ll probably be able to sleep a little once they arrived, but they’re also supposed to have brunch with Clary’s uncle and aunt at noon.

“I’m really excited about seeing Lydia again,” Clary says, “And John, too. I haven’t seen them in ages.”

“Yeah, the last time they were at yours was about 3 years ago, wasn’t it?”

“What’s she like? Is she cute?”, Izzy wants to know.

“Isabelle, you’re literally attending her wedding.”, Luke chimes in from the row in front of them. “Also, you need to be more quiet. People want to sleep.”

“Sorry.”

“I don’t know man, she kind of has a stick up her butt, but she’s nice.”, Simon whispers. “You’ll probably love her, considering how much you like your brother.”

“That’s nice!”, Isabelle cheer-whispers.

Simon is once again confused how it’s possible that Alec and Isabelle are related.


	13. Chapter 12

Simon is glad when he’s finally in his own room again, even if his mum won’t stop bugging him about how the wedding’s been and if Lydia’s dress was amazing and if he and Izzy had managed to get matching clothes at last and and and. He’s not one to be opposed to crowds, considering he attends conventions almost every second month and  _ well _ , he’s in a band.

However, Chicago’s been really stressful with everyone running around and Jocelyn having made a strict plan to meet all his closer relatives before the wedding already. Luke had insisted that they don’t wander around the city on their own (apparently Chicago is more dangerous than New York which is truly amazing) so they all had to join those boring meetings. The amount of times he had to listen to how big Clary’s gotten and what a handsome fella Jace is have been too much.

The wedding itself was beautiful, the decoration looking like it was taken right from a fairytale. Simon had always thought that Lydia looks pretty, but in her long white gown, she’d simply been breathtaking.

They’ve been flying back on Monday morning which leaves him the whole day to catch up sleep and homework once his mum had calmed down about him being back. He’d already sent her pictures before, but naturally, she’s convinced she needs another detailed  _ description _ from him.

He’d send Raphael pictures, too, but for some reason his answers had been pretty short. Not that Raphael writes lengthy paragraphs, but usually he writes full sentences at least. Simon supposes he’s been busy with yet another project for university.

This doesn’t stop him from sending out another text before he lies down for a nap, asking if he’d be up for hanging out some time this week.

When he checks his phone again once he wakes up, there’s still no answer. Which is weird because usually Raphael replies immediately.

He guesses that Raphael must be  _ really _ busy and bites down the light concern that comes up his mind. But, he decides, if the other hasn’t answered by tomorrow morning, he’d ask Izzy for Magnus’ number. Raphael would probably pretty pissed if Simon would be  _ worried _ about him not answering a  _ text _ that he’d  _ call _ him, so that’s not an option.

 

-

 

“Here I thought people got out of their emo phase at 14.”, Magnus says, leaning against the doorframe. “Did you even have one? Is this puberty kicking in late? Do I have to play your dad?”

“¿ _ De qué estás hablando _ ?”, Raphael mutters, an old comic book of his lying across his face to shield it from the beam of light coming in behind Magnus. 

“You’re not even bothering to speak English. That’s… wow.”, Magnus says slowly and steps inside. “Why are the curtains drawn? It’s a beautiful day that you’ve been skipping.”

“I’m tired. Probably getting sick or something,” Raphael mumbles.

“Lying is a  _ sin _ ,” Magnus reminds him in the most scandalous tone he can pull off. “Do you… want to talk?”

Raphael shakes his head immediately, hoping that Magnus sees it in the dark. Somehow. The thing is, they don’t talk. Well, he supposes they do, but not about  _ feelings _ . Or not about Raphael’s feelings because there haven’t been any to share so far. There’s never been the need because the only things that ever concerned him were his family and friends and it’s been pretty obvious to Magnus at all times.

Raphael’s just not good at admitting things in general. When he’d figured that maybe he could stay at Magnus’ flat, he had simply put an envelope with money where Magnus’ would find it and hoped he’d understand. It’s been a relief for him that Magnus hadn’t wanted to  _ talk _ about it but simply put the envelope back into the same place with a note saying, “ _ For you, poor student, it’s $150 rent and $50 food money. _ ”

So yeah, he and Magnus don’t talk and now is certainly not the time to start it.

“You know, Sebastian texted me.”

At that, Raphael sits up, the comic sliding down from his face and onto the ground, “Why’d he do that?”

“Apparently, he’s been worried. You don’t even answer your  _ phone _ any more?”, Magnus explains. “That’s so unlike you.”

Actually, Raphael had read Simon’s text. He’d typed out multiple replies - a short yes about meeting up, a lengthy message about what’s going on, an excuse about how he’s too busy - but none of them made the cut. Interacting with Simon would mean either acting up on his  _ crush _ or pushing it back. 

“So, what’s wrong?”

Raphael lets out a long groan. The fact that  _ Simon _ had texted Magnus would lead him to not backing off until he knows. It’s never happened before, actually, that someone besides his  _ mamá  _ or Ragnor had been worried about him, but those he’s told soon enough so Magnus hasn’t had to step in (not that his mother would’ve asked Magnus over Camille, of course). But he’s seen Magnus act that way with others before. 

“Okay, fine,” he gives in, “I’ve been thinking… about stuff.”

“Would you like to share them with the class?”, Magnus asks and a moment later, Raphael feels how he must sit down on the bed in front of him.

“I really, really don’t.”, Raphael says. “Actually, I’ve discussed them with Ragnor already but he only made it  _ worse _ .”

“He tends to do that.”, Magnus chuckles. “Listen, you don’t  _ have _ to talk, but if you want, I’ll listen. Maybe I can help.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

 

-

 

2:38am

Hi.

So, I’m still alive.

Sorry for not answering sooner, I… hadn’t

felt like it, to be honest.

I hadn’t meant to worry you, sorry.

Meeting up would be nice, I guess?

Maybe on Friday?

8:59am

Now /that’s/ been a vague reply.

I’m glad you’re alright, though! \\(*_*)/

What. Is that.

It’s called emoticon, look it up.

Anyway, I’ve got time on Friday so yay!

  
  


**To Clary Fray:** So Raphael is alright.

**To Clary Fray:** He still doesn’t sound like himself? 

**To Clary Fray:** But he has replied. And we’re hanging out on Friday.

**From Clary Fray:** Good to hear! I was getting worried myself.

**From Clary Fray:** If he ever makes you so anxious again, I’ll stake him.

**To Clary Fray:** He’s not a vampire???

**From Clary Fray:** Idk, man. ‘Killing’ didn’t sound dramatic enough.

**To Clary Fray:** Thank you.

 

-

 

Raphael is actually  _ nervous _ about meeting Simon, which is probably the first time in his life that he’s ever felt like that. He’d even styled his hair differently and borrowed a vest of Magnus’.

The day Magnus had come into his room and demanded to get to know what was going on, they’d actually talked about it. Raphael had explained what he was  _ feeling _ (he still wants to shudder at the mere thought of how embarrassing the situation had been) and about his phone call with Ragnor. He’s told him how he’d gone to google for what Ragnor had called the “aromantic spectrum” and that apparently, he’d what you could call ‘demiromantic’.

Magnus has listened, saying that he’s heard about the term. And  _ then _ , he’d asked who’d caused it. Raphael had been able to hear the grin in his voice. He totally knew.

In the end, Magnus has said that maybe, not all hope had been lost. That maybe, Simon didn’t get rid of his crush just yet. That maybe, he had a chance.

Raphael liked to believe him, he really did, but then Magnus has said exactly what Ragnor had said before: that he’d have to  _ talk _ to Simon. Which was pretty much a no-go.

And yet, here he stands, in front of Java Jones on Friday afternoon.

He takes a deep breath before entering, readying himself for what’s to come. The option of never talking to Simon again if this went downhill has crossed his mind, even if he didn’t like it. But then again, Simon hadn’t cut him off either, so maybe it was possible for them to pursue a friendship.

When he gets inside the shop, there’s no sight of Simon. Instead, he sees the blonde guy who’d been at Magnus’ party -  _ Jace _ , his mind supplies - standing behind the counter.

As he walks up to him, recognition spreads across his face.

“You’re Raphael, aren’t you?”, he asks before Raphael can say anything, which surprises him slightly because they’ve never exchanged a word. He guesses Alec must have mentioned him.

“Uh, yeah. You’re a friend of Simon’s, right?”, he responds. The next moment, he feels like facepalming. He  _ knows _ that Jace isn’t too fond of Simon. So why’d he bring up  _ him _ instead of Alec?

But Jace actually surprises him by saying, “Damn straight, I am.” Then he adds, “Don’t tell him I said that, though. He thinks I hate him and it’s good like that.”

“Why is it?”

“Intimidation is always a good thing.”, Jace shrugs. “Can I get you anything?”

“Yeah, I’ll take a caramel cappuccino.”

 

-

 

Simon’s worst nightmare has come true.

He’s late to meeting Raphael because Jordan has needed help to get a  _ drumset _ into his van. Simon had guessed it would take less time if he just went for it without arguing.

And while he has been absent, Raphael and Jace must’ve become  _ friends _ .

They’re talking about something with as much excitement as either of them can show, Jace’s eyes gleaming at whatever Raphael has just said. Now  _ he _ looks like he has a crush on him.

“Yeah, I mean, I got one but it’s in Mexico.”, Raphael says with a shrug as Simon steps closer. “A couple of friends had gotten it for me before I was even allowed to drive.”

“You have a car?”, Simon asks, causing Raphael to turn around to him.

“He’s got a  _ bike _ , man.”, Jace claims before Raphael could even say anything.

“For real? Woah, that’s  _ cool _ .”, Simon gasps, “Your coolness just, like, increased by 10%.”

“How much do I have now?”

“About 60.”

Raphael huffs. “That’s rude.”, he mutters and Simon can see a strange flicker in his eye. He isn’t seriously insulted by that, is he?

“Anyway, hello.”, Simon says quickly. “What shall we do today? There’s still a couple of Doctor Who eps I haven’t watched yet.”

“I was thinking we could just… walk around? I meant to properly apologize for the other day.”, Raphael says quietly. He looks up to see if Jace had listened in, but he’s actually acting up on the little manners he’s got and backed away.

“Uh, okay?”, Simon blinks. “Hey, Jace, can I get a hot chocolate to go? And another one of whatever Raph’s had.”

“Coming up.”


	14. Chapter 13

“How’s your mum about you living with Magnus for good?”, Simon wants to know after a while that they’ve spent walking around in silence. It hasn’t been awkward per se, but considering that Raphael had requested to  _ talk _ , it’s thrown him off a bit. Whatever’s been bugging Raphael must’ve been really important to him, so Simon’s first guess is his family.

“She’s coming around, I think.”, Raphael shrugs, “I mean, while she’d prefer I’d still still live Camille… You know, she doesn’t hate Magnus. At the moment she’s mostly irritated because he hasn’t come to visit her since I graduated. … Which he didn’t do because he’s convinced she hates him. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Simon nods shortly. He’d learned the circumstances about the ending of Magnus’ and Camille’s relationship by now, that she’d cheated and caused him to break up with her. He also knows that since they had completely avoided the topic the last time either of those had seen Raphael’s mum, she’s not aware what had been going on. And that’s the reason why she still thinks of Camille as an angel.

Which is admittedly funny, considering her own son is one. 

The thought had crossed his mind quite often - that Raphael wasn’t just named after an angel but truly must be one, too, because he’s just such a good person. Sure, he’s obnoxious at times with his scepsis and teasing, but all in all, Raphael’s probably the most loyal person he’s ever met.

“I think I’ll make him come back home with me for the summer,” Raphael continues, “I’m sure Bat’ll be fine with the club.”

Simon looks at him in surprise, “You’ll be gone for the  _ whole _ summer?”

“Pretty much,” Raphael says.

“That’s… quite long,” Simon takes a sip of his coffee.

“You could come with,” Raphael suggests, “Like, not the whole time if you don’t want, but mamá surely wouldn’t mind one person more.”

Simon’s seriously surprised by that offer because so far he’s just heard stories about what it’s been like with all those people Raphael has known for ages. Some of the memories he and Magnus shared or even people Simon has never and probably will never meet. People who are important to him. Does that mean Simon’s important to him, too? Because if so, there’s no way that dumb crush Simon has will ever go away because there’s maybe still  _ hope _ . Which, since he knows Raphael is aromantic, is stupid.

“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want-- It’s just an idea,” Raphael says when Simon doesn’t answer.

“It’s a  _ brilliant _ idea,” Simon smiles at him despite knowing he  _ shouldn’t _ . He should say no. There’s no way he could spent more than a day with Raphael at his  _ home _ without being lost for good.

But Raphael smiles in return and Simon knows that he’s already lost.

Once he’s managed to look away again, his eyes meet a familiar figure walking into their direction.

“Oh, damn.”

Raphael raises an eyebrow, “What?”

“Uh, that’s my, um, ex.”, Simon says and nods at the two girls holding hands.

“Seriously? Which one? Because one of them is in one of my classes.”

 

-

 

“Oh, hey, Raphael!”, Lily calls once they’re close enough to hear each other. She keeps holding on to the other girl’s - Simon’s  _ ex _ , Maia, as he’s just learned - hand as she approaches him. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Raphael doesn’t really know Lily. She’s in one of his classes and they’ve sat next to each other a couple of times, throwing glances at each other when someone’s answer had been entirely wrong. He thinks he could like her.

“Uh, hi, Simon.”, Maia says with a short glance at him. 

“Maia,” Simon says. His voice is neutral mostly, just a few octaves too high from surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Same as you,” Lily answers for her, “We’re having a date.”

“Oh!”, Simon makes at that, “We’re, uh, we’re not dating. This is not a date.”

Raphael knows that, of course, simply because  _ he still hasn’t _ talked  _ to Simon yet _ , but he can’t help but feel a twist at his stomach at the way Simon says it. His voice is firm and simply making a statement rather than an awkward deny. He sounds like it’s  _ horrifying _ to think of this meeting as a date. 

Simon’s over him for good.

“Oh, sorry,” Lily quickly says. “Well, we better get going again, our movie starts soon, right, Maia?”

Maia just nods shortly. She doesn’t look like she’s having the time of her life running into Simon. Raphael feels himself wondering what’s happened between them.

“It was great seeing you, Maia,” Simon says, however, so he guesses it can’t have been  _ that _ bad.

And then both pairs presume walking. Simon stays silent for a while, leaving Raphael with his thoughts. He’d meant to confess to Simon today but now he can forget about that. Simon has pretty much just said that he wouldn’t want to date him, so that’s off the table.

 

-

 

You see, Simon’s  _ never _ had to run into an ex-girlfriend before, simply because he’s only had one. Maia had obviously been uncomfortable about running into him, probably because she wasn’t sure if he was okay with her ending things (which he actually is because  _ hello _ , if she notices she’s a lesbian she’d go for it rather than being stuck with a  _ guy _ ). And yet, he’s also feeling slightly weird about it, not only because Maia’s been with who’s apparently her girlfriend, but because he’s  _ run into his ex-girlfriend with the guy he has a crush on present _ . 

That’s not your typical situation, so naturally, he’s feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“We’ve only been together for a bit before she realized she liked girls,” he finds himself saying when Raphael doesn’t react at all.

The other nods shortly. “How long has it been?”

“Almost a year ago, I think?”, Simon shrugs. 

It’s stupid that he’s walking around with  _ Raphael _ and talks about  _ Maia _ . Not because of Maia herself but simply because there’s so many better things they could talk about.

Better to change the topic before this gets any worse.

“You still haven’t told me what’s been up with you, you know.”

 

-

 

Raphael has never sinned. At least not on purpose. The few times he’s ever acted up against anything, he’s gone to confession right away and been cleaned of his sins.

And yet God must have decided to punish him.

There’s no way he could back away again now, not when Simon has openly asked him to finally talk. And he’s decided that he’d tell him, so he really doesn’t have an option, does he?

“I’ve been thinking.”, he starts.

Simon must’ve realized that this is not the time to interrupt with a snarky comment because his only response is his eyebrows going up and him nodding for Raphael to continue.

“You know, while growing up I’d seen so many people be in love or have a crush and what not and I just didn’t understand… I mean, I guess I did understand but I’ve never felt it myself.”, Raphael says after taking a deep breath. “So, after lots of discussions Ragnor has said that I must be aromantic. And I feel good with this label because it describes what I feel. Or rather, not feel.”

“So, you didn’t have to figure out on yourself? That’s nice,” Simon says quietly. There’s something in his voice that Raphael can’t quite name.

“Yes, anyway… Recently I’ve wondered if maybe it hasn’t been accurate. Because… suddenly I’ve wanted all that couple stuff. Like, kiss someone or just… cuddle or… Just, that stuff, right?”, and before Simon can respond, he continues, just so that he doesn’t stop, “So I was wondering that maybe, I had been not true to myself the whole time? Or to the world? And Ragnor informed me there are subcategories of being aromantic. That I could still identify as such and pursue a guy.”

“A guy?”, Simon repeats, confusion visible on his face.

“... Yes. But, you see, I’d already told this guy I would  _ never _ want a relationship with him, which I realize now was quite the mistake and… you’d probably prefer now that we’d stay friends.”

At that Simon stops walking. “ _ We _ ? You mean…  _ me _ ?”

“I-- Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up. You should just… forget it,” Raphael says quickly, ignoring the pain in his chest as he turns away to continue walking.

As he does so, though, Simon catches his wrist.

 

-

 

Simon’s mind is rushing from  _ is this really happening _ over  _ I think it might be _ to  _ oh my god, I might throw up I’m so nervous _ . He must be fantasizing because there’s no way on earth that  _ Raphael _ , beautiful wonderful Raphael, has just confessed to have a  _ crush _ on  _ him _ .

But there he stands, about to turn away because Simon hasn’t replied in time, and Simon knows that this is the moment where has to act.

So he reaches for Raphael’s arm.

“I’ve been  _ trying _ to get over you for the past  _ months _ .”

Raphael looks back at him, his eyes wide in surprise when they meet Simon’s. “But you were making a point about this not being a date.”

“To  _ myself _ !”, Simon exclaims, “Because I thought it would never…”

“Never what?”

“Work out.”, Simon whispers when he notices that Raphael has stepped closer. There’s only inches between them by now, “And now it could?”

He can feel Raphael’s warm breath being blown against his chin, that’s how close they are. Raphael glances down at his lips shortly, a hot feeling spreading out in Simon’s stomach, and says, “It  _ should _ .”

And then he closes the distance between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY


	15. Epilogue

“You know, having 5 hours for packing is not really enough.”, Magnus calls over his shoulder as he stumbles around the loft. 

“I’ve told you  _ a month _ ago I would make you come with.”

“Yes! But it hasn’t been  _ certain _ .”

“I told you again last week.”

“And I hadn’t exactly thought you  _ meant _ it. People tend to say stuff that they don’t mean. Especially concerning plans to travel into another country.”

Raphael raises an eyebrow at him. “They are usually meant when I make them, though. You know that.”

Not only had he been telling Magnus that he’d come with him in the summer, his mother had requested it a couple of times, as well. And once Simon had decided to tag along, he’d made lots of comments towards Magnus about how  _ they _ would have so much fun. So, it’s pretty much been settled that Magnus would sit in a plane later.

And yet, he’s been utterly surprised when Raphael had checked if he’s gotten all three tickets ready and asked whom the third was for. Long story short, Magnus Bane is an idiot.

“Remind me again why  _ your _ boyfriend is coming with us while I will have to be  _ alone _ for  _ two _ weeks?”, Magnus asks with accusation in his voice.

“Because  _ your _ boyfriend didn’t  _ want _ to go on vacation,” Raphael reminds him. Admittedly, Alec had put it differently, saying that he’s got to work and that he’d never want to spend such a long time with Simon, but it’s been the core. “Besides, otherwise  _ I _ wouldn’t see Simon for two  _ months _ .”

“Wow, and now you’ll be without one another for one and half months. How tragic.”, this time Magnus’ voice is sarcastic.

“You just ruined your own whining,” Raphael informs him, “What’s your two weeks against my pain?”

He’s only slightly exaggerating because while he’s aware that Simon won’t be out of the world while he’s in Mexico, with them being to skype every night once Simon’s back in New York, it  _ will _ be horrible because ever since they started dating, they’ve spent each day together. 

“Now, will you hurry up? We’re meeting the others in  _ half _ an  _ hour _ .”

 

-

 

Simon doesn’t even know how they’d gotten his mum to agree with him going to Mexico. She’s quite the protective type, having only ever allowed him to leave the city when  _ Luke _ had been with him (which makes sense, since he’s a cop).

It must’ve been Raphael’s natural charm that has convinced her to allow it. Maybe she thinks that Raphael will keep an eye on him. Which he certainly will, of course.

She doesn’t know yet that there’s more going on between them than just friendship, but Simon hasn’t been ready to tell her yet that he’s in love with the nice guy who comes over for dinner occasionally.

Anyway, know he’s standing in front of Java Jones with a full suitcase by his side, along with their group, and waits for Raphael and Magnus to arrive. 

Clary had been pretty annoying about the whole thing, teasing him where she could as she was spurred on by Izzy. Jace has demanded pictures of the bike that Raphael has and is currently reminding him of that, too.

Only Alec had been pretty quiet about the whole thing, which is understandable considering he’s about to send off his own boyfriend. He’s sulking as they stand there, his mouth pressed into a thin line, but Simon thinks it’s his own fault. Raphael had offered to him that he could come along and he’d declined.

“They’re late,” Meliorn notices after a while of standing there. Initially, Simon had been wondering why they’d insisted on telling them goodbye, too, but he guesses that they and Isabelle would go on a date afterwards or whatever. Maybe they’d bonded with Magnus about their colourful hair, too, who knows?

“5 bucks that it’s Magnus’ fault,” Izzy offers.

“ _ Of course _ it’s Magnus’ fault.”, Simon rolls his eyes. “Have you even  _ met _ Raph? He’s  _ never _ late.”

“So, would you say he,” Isabelle smirks, “Comes early?”

“Oh my god,” everyone groans at the same time.

“Ah, there they come,” Alec says in the next moment, motioning to figures that Simon can barely make out.

 

-

 

Saying goodbye has been like torture for Raphael. He knows that Simon is incredibly close to his friends, but that doesn’t mean that Isabelle and Clary have to hug him five hundred times. He’ll only be gone for two weeks.

Even worse behaviour comes from Magnus and Alec and while Raphael knows he probably shouldn’t blame them for making out for ten bolt minutes, he can’t help but be annoyed when he sees  _ tears _ in Magnus’ eyes. He’ll only be gone for two weeks.

But they make it. In the end, they’re seated in the plane, Raphael in the middle of a very grumpy Magnus and a fairly excited Simon. And he’s quite content, because it feels right.

“Do you think this is what Lois has felt like when she first got the Kent’s farm?”, Simon asks.

“Certainly not in Man of Steel.”

“We  _ don’t _ talk about Man of Steel, I thought we agreed on that!”

Raphael chuckles, “I don’t know why you dislike it so much....”

“It’s weird and it’s so serious and-- I don’t know, I just don’t like it.”, Simon grumbles. Then he smiles again, “Anyway, I’m so excited to see your home!”

“Yes, you mentioned that like a hundred times.”, Raphael returns the smile and takes his hand.

In the end, he’s glad that his mother had made him move in with Camille. Because if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have thought with her and then Simon wouldn’t have noticed him on the subway. And if Simon hadn’t recognized him at Magnus’ party, they’d never started talking.

He would never have thought to ever think that but  _ man _ , bless Camille.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's a roll!  
> I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, feel free to leave a comment! :)  
> Also, you can always come scream at me about those beautiful boys either on [tumblr](http://joanthangroff.tumblr.com) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/remuzlupin).


End file.
